POEMS.
MADDALENA'S CONFESSION.
The Bride of Christ! oh, at those words there swept
Bright glories through my spirit! I was deaf
To the deep anthem. Prelate and stoled priest,
The dim cathedral walls, the kneeling crowd,
The lattice where the black-robed nuns looked through
All passed away from mine enraptured eyes.
I saw no more thy bowed form, oh, my mother!
Nor his who stood far down the aisle of columns
Hiding his bent brow with his mantle's fold.
Bright glories through my spirit! I was deaf
To the deep anthem. Prelate and stoled priest,
The dim cathedral walls, the kneeling crowd,
The lattice where the black-robed nuns looked through
All passed away from mine enraptured eyes.
I saw no more thy bowed form, oh, my mother!
Nor his who stood far down the aisle of columns
Hiding his bent brow with his mantle's fold.
It seems not long since I, a little child,
Trod yon cathedral floors, and in deep awe,
First crossed my forehead with the holy water.
Trod yon cathedral floors, and in deep awe,
First crossed my forehead with the holy water.
