Page:Roden Noel - A Little Child's Monument - 1881.pdf/157

 Sank trustfully to rest— But in the self-same hour My form the cold earth pressed…

… An orbèd luminous haze-lily, For pistil the Moon-pearl! Ringed round with daffadowndilly, A halo of blown curl, As of young angels kneeling, A reverent band aloof! Earth smiles in the revealing Of Heaven's aery woof. The stranger child I lifted Wan lieth where he fell; His scanty raiment rifted, And woeworn features tell Of a lifelong famine, Of cruelty and pain: And now, while I examine The piteous face again, Meseems there dawns a kindred To a long-lost face; While wakening unhindered Wings of filmy grace From the poor frayed swathings Of his soiled garments break, And delicate soft bathings In the moon-sphere make.