Mary’s Girlhood (For A Picture)

This is that blessed Mary, pre-elect
      God’s ******. Gone is a great while, and she
      Dwelt young in Nazareth of Galilee.
Unto God’s will she brought devout respect,
Profound simplicity of intellect,
      And supreme patience. From her mother’s knee
      Faithful and hopeful; wise in charity;
Strong in grave peace; in pity circumspect.So held she through her girlhood; as it were
      An angel-water’d lily, that near God
           Grows and is quiet. Till, one dawn at home,
She woke in her white bed, and had no fear
      At all,—yet wept till sunshine, and felt aw’d:
           Because the fulness of the time was come.