52
Maddalena's confession.
To pluck a joy that seemed to common eyes
Dewy with innocence, lo, underneath,
There coiled some black temptation! The wide world
Was all a paradise where every tree
Held fruit forbidden. Whither could I fly?
Into dim solitudes, through trooping crowds,
Horror pursued me with extended arms.
Trembling I lingered in Ginevra's chamber,
There forcibly impelled, there paralyzed
By the cold, haunting presence of the dead.
Oh, God! I heard her footsteps track the floor!
Oh, God! I wakened from my sleep to feel
That I had scared away some brooding thing!
And once—believe it, father!—in the moonlight
I saw her in her death-robes stand and point
Her white, still finger to the pictured bridal!
Dewy with innocence, lo, underneath,
There coiled some black temptation! The wide world
Was all a paradise where every tree
Held fruit forbidden. Whither could I fly?
Into dim solitudes, through trooping crowds,
Horror pursued me with extended arms.
Trembling I lingered in Ginevra's chamber,
There forcibly impelled, there paralyzed
By the cold, haunting presence of the dead.
Oh, God! I heard her footsteps track the floor!
Oh, God! I wakened from my sleep to feel
That I had scared away some brooding thing!
And once—believe it, father!—in the moonlight
I saw her in her death-robes stand and point
Her white, still finger to the pictured bridal!
They said that I grew like her, like the novice
Some still remembered; she who smiled farewell,
Thrusting her white hands through the convent grating!
Like the pale saint who, with the crucifix
Betwixt her palms, spake softly as she trod
Some still remembered; she who smiled farewell,
Thrusting her white hands through the convent grating!
Like the pale saint who, with the crucifix
Betwixt her palms, spake softly as she trod
