Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.
Adelaide Anne Procter 182564The Requital
L
Fast fell the sleet;
A little Child Angel
Passed down the street,
With trailing pinions
And weary feet.
No stars were bright;
So she could not shelter
In heaven that night,
For the Angels’ ladders
Are rays of light.
At each windowpane,
And pleaded for shelter,
But all in vain;—
“Listen,” they said,
“To the pelting rain!”
And mirth grew higher,
“Give me rest and shelter
Beside your fire,
And I will give you
Your heart’s desire.”
His embers gleam,
While his heart was floating
Down hope’s bright stream;
…So he wove her wailing
Into his dream.
For his time was brief;
The mourner was nursing
Her own pale grief;
They heard not the promise
That brought relief.
Rose than before,
When the Angel paus’d
At a humble door,
And ask’d for shelter
And help once more.
Pale, worn, and thin,
With the brand upon her
Of want and sin,
Heard the Child Angel
And took her in:
And did her best
To dry her pinions;
And made her rest
With tender pity
Upon her breast.
Grew bright and red,
Up the first sunbeam
The Angel fled;
Having kiss’d the woman
And left her—dead.