Page:A father of women, and other poems, Meynell, 1917.djvu/11

 A FATHER OF WOMEN

UR father works in us,

The daughters of his manhood. Not undone

Is he, not wasted, though transmuted thus,

And though he left no son.

Therefore on him I cry

To arm me: "For my delicate mind a casque,

A breastplate for my heart, courage to die,

Of thee, captain, I ask.

"Nor strengthen only; press

A finger on this violent blood and pale,

Over this rash will let thy tenderness

A while pause, and prevail.

"And shepherd-father, thou

Whose staff folded my thoughts before my birth,

Control them now I am of earth, and now

Thou art no more of earth.

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