Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MARY MAGDALEN, by JAMES ELROY FLECKER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MARY MAGDALEN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O eyes that strip the souls of men
Last Line: "for love of him, for love of him."
Subject(s): Mary Magdalen; Women In The Bible; Mary Magdalene


O eyes that strip the souls of men!
There came to me the Magdalen.
Her blue robe with a cord was bound,
Her hair with knotted ivy crowned.
"Arise," she said, "God calls for thee,
Turned to new paths thy feet must be.
Leave the fever and the feast,
Leave the friend thou lovest best:
For thou must walk in barefoot ways,
On hills where God is near to praise."

Then answered I -- "Sweet Magdalen,
God's servant, once beloved of men,
Why didst thou change old ways for new,
Thy trailing red for corded blue,
The rose for ivy on thy brow,
That splendour for this barren vow?"
Gentle of speech she answered me: --
"Sir, I was sick with revelry.
True, I have scarred the night with sin,
A pale and tawdry heroine;
Yet once I heard a voice that said,
'Who lives in sin is like one dead,
But follow: thy dark eyes shall see
The towns of immortality.'"

"O Mary, not for this," I cried,
"Didst thou renounce thy scented pride
Not for the roll of endless years
Or fields of joy undewed by tears
Didst thou desert the courts of men.
Tell me thy truth, grave Magdalen!"

She trembled, and her eyes grew dim: --
"For love of Him, for love of Him."





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net