ABOUT her head or floating feet No halo's starry gleam, Still dark and swift uprising, like A bubble in a stream, -- A soul, from whose rejoicing heart The bonds of earth were riven, Sped upward through the silent night To the closed Gates of Heaven. And waiting heard a voice, -- "Who comes To claim Eternity? Hero or saint that bled and died Mankind to save and free?" She bent her head. The voice once more, -- "Didst thou then toil and live For home and children -- to thy Love Last breath and heart's blood give?" Her head sank lower still, she clasped Her hands upon her breast: "Oh, no!" she whispered, "my dim life Has never been so blest! "I trod a lonely, barren path, And neither great nor good, Gained not a hero's palm, nor won The crown of motherhood! "Oh, I was naught!" Yet suddenly The white lips faintly smiled -- "Save, oh, methinks I was mayhap My Heavenly Father's Child!" A flash of light, a cry of joy, And with uplifted eyes The soul, through gates rolled open wide, Passed into Paradise. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPITAPHS OF THE WAR, 1914-18: THE BEGINNER by RUDYARD KIPLING SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: ANNE RUTLEDGE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SING-SONG; A NURSERY RHYME BOOK: 97 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI THE IMMORTALITY OF LOVE by ROBERT SOUTHEY GOOD LUCK by JOHANNA AMBROSIUS WILD GEESE by GEORGE LAWRENCE ANDREWS THE STEAM-ENGINE: CANTO 10. ROSES ALL THE WAY by T. BAKER |