Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE CHIEF WITNESS, by GEORGE HERBERT CLARKE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE CHIEF WITNESS, by                    
First Line: Her that hath hid a babe beneath her breast
Last Line: "through me the race aspires from man to man!"
Subject(s): Humanity; Jesus Christ; Mary. Mother Of Jesus; Mothers; Sons; Women In The Bible; Virgin Mary


HER that hath hid a babe beneath her breast
Through the long, secret days and deepening nights,
Kindling with happy hopes and dear delights,
Or brooding silent with a dim unrest,—
Ask her, the Mother, what is for women best,—
The chase of phantom freedom, mechanic "rights,"
Sharing with fevered face the cruder fights,
Or her high part in the Eternal Quest?

She only of her sex can say, for she
Alone is Woman whose word is of a son:
"In the great Heart-of-Things I feel a plan
Encompassing the mystery of me:
I mother all mankind in mothering one,—
Through me the race aspires from man to Man!"





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