Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.
William James Dawson b. 1854A Childs Portrait
H
Her lips half-open hint the psalm
The angels sing, who wear God’s palm:
And in her eyes a liquid light,
With somewhat of a starry sheen,
Comes welling upward from the white
And vestal soul that throbs within.
That holds the sunlight in its snare;
And one pure lily she doth wear
In her white robe: and she doth seem
A flower-like creature, who will fade
If suns strike down too rude a beam,
Or winds blow roughly on her shade.
Meet at her feet, where on the lawn
She stands, in tender thought withdrawn:
And little wonder would it be,
If on those slanting stairs she trod,
And, with one farewell smile toward me,
Were caught into the smile of God.