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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO THE VIRGIN by FRIEDRICH LEOPOLD VON HARDENBERG

First Line: A THOUSAND HANDS, DEVOUTLY TENDER
Last Line: MY WHOLE RAPT BEING—HEART AND MIND.
Subject(s): MARY. MOTHER OF JESUS; WOMEN IN THE BIBLE; VIRGIN MARY;
A THOUSAND hands, devoutly tender,
Have sought thy beauty to express,
But none, oh Mary, none can render,
As my soul sees, thy loveliness.

I gaze till earth's confusion fadeth
Like to a dream, and leaves behind
A heaven of sweetness which pervadeth
My whole rapt being—heart and mind.



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