Page:Songs from the Southern Seas and Other Poems (1873).djvu/164



HE day of Joseph's marriage unto Mary, In thoughtful mood he said unto his wife, "Behold, I go into a far-off country To labor for thee, and to make thy life And home all sweet and peaceful." And the Virgin Unquestioning beheld her spouse depart: Then lived she many days of musing gladness, Not knowing that God's hand was round her heart.

And dreaming thus one day within her chamber, She wept with speechless bliss, when lo! the face Of white-winged angel Gabriel rose before her, And bowing spoke, "Hail! Mary, full of grace,