Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MAGDALEN (AFTER SWINBURNE), by JOHN BANISTER TABB


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MAGDALEN (AFTER SWINBURNE), by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: She hath done what she could'
Last Line: "she hath done what she could."
Alternate Author Name(s): Father Tabb
Subject(s): Mary Magdalen; Swinburne, Algernon Charles (1837-1909); Women - Bible; Mary Magdalene


"SHE hath done what she could."
It was thus that He spake of her,
Trembling and pale as the penitent stood.
"And this she hath done shall be told for the sake of her,
Told as embalmed in the gift that I take of her,
Take, as an earnest of all that she would
Who hath done what she could.

"She hath done what the could:
Lo, the flame that hath driven her
Downward, is quenched! and her grief like a flood
In the strength of a rain-swollen torrent hath shriven her:
Much hath she loved and much is forgiven her;
Love in the longing fulfils what it would --
She hath done what she could."





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