54
Maddalena's confession.
Fasts, and harsh penances. There was a chamber
Ginevra loved; a dim, square, lofty room,
Crossed and re-crossed by arches, paven with marbles
Stained in sea hues. One silver shining lamp
That burned behind a column, brake the night
"With its still radiance. There, when midnight came,
Crept I as stealthily, with naked feet
Treading the corridors. There my faint soul
Staggered beneath its cross! The niched saints, only,
Might hear my heart shriek as I walled it in!
The marble where my forehead lay kept not
Count of my tears;—and there, when fasts prolonged
Vanquished my sense, while life, the jailor, slept,
Came angels that unlocked the prison doors
And bade my soul go free. Athwart my brain
Flash and withdraw into the cloud of sense
That holds them captive, memories too bright
For human keeping, dumb, sweet dreams that passed
With finger laid on lip. Oh, gracious father,
Great is my faith in penance, that chains down
The senses in their cells, scourges the passions
Into meek virtues, and converts the house
Ginevra loved; a dim, square, lofty room,
Crossed and re-crossed by arches, paven with marbles
Stained in sea hues. One silver shining lamp
That burned behind a column, brake the night
"With its still radiance. There, when midnight came,
Crept I as stealthily, with naked feet
Treading the corridors. There my faint soul
Staggered beneath its cross! The niched saints, only,
Might hear my heart shriek as I walled it in!
The marble where my forehead lay kept not
Count of my tears;—and there, when fasts prolonged
Vanquished my sense, while life, the jailor, slept,
Came angels that unlocked the prison doors
And bade my soul go free. Athwart my brain
Flash and withdraw into the cloud of sense
That holds them captive, memories too bright
For human keeping, dumb, sweet dreams that passed
With finger laid on lip. Oh, gracious father,
Great is my faith in penance, that chains down
The senses in their cells, scourges the passions
Into meek virtues, and converts the house
