  BEHIND her triple prison-bars shut in She sits, the whitest soul on earth to-day. No shadowing stain, no whispered hint of sin, Into that sanctuary finds the way. There enters only clear and proven truth Apportioned for her use by loving hands And winnowed from all knowledge of all lands To satisfy her ardent thirst of youth. Like a strange alabaster mask her face, Rayless and sightless, set in patience dumb, Until like quick electric currents come The signals of life into her lonely place; Then, like a lamp just lit, an inward gleam Flashes within the mask’s opacity, The features glow and dimple suddenly, And fun and tenderness and sparkle seem To irradiate the lines once dull and blind, While the white slender fingers reach and cling With quick imploring gestures, questioning The mysteries and the meanings:—to her mind The world is not the sordid world we know; It is a happy and benignant spot Where kindness reigns, and jealousy is not, And men move softly, dropping as they go The golden fruit of knowledge for all to share. And Love is King, and Heaven is very near, And God to whom each separate soul is dear Makes fatherly answer to each whispered prayer. Ah, little stainless soul, shut in so close, May never hint of doubt creep in to be A shadow on the calm security Which wraps thee, as its fragrance wraps a rose. |
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