Page:The ascent of man by Blind, Mathilde.djvu/94



out the font of being, undefiled,
 * A life hath been upheaved with struggle and pain;
 * Safe in her arms a mother holds again

That dearest miracle—a new-born child. To moans of anguish terrible and wild—
 * As shrieks the night-wind through an ill-shut pane—
 * Pure heaven succeeds; and after fiery strain

Victorious woman smiles serenely mild.

Yea, shall she not rejoice, shall not her frame
 * Thrill with a mystic rapture! At this birth,

The soul now kindled by her vital flame
 * May it not prove a gift of priceless worth?

Some saviour of his kind whose starry fame
 * Shall bring a brightness to the darkened earth.