Lady of Sorrows II

Mater Dolorosa
by Charles Edward Thomas

His Mother, Our Lady of Sorrows,
Stood alone on Calvary's hill,
Three crosses reeled against the sky
And all the world was still.

They came to Our Lady of Sorrows,
Came gently to lead her away,
But she set her face towards that cross on high
And watched through the fearful day.

Then they said, "Dear Lady of Sorrows,
Still thine anguish and raise thine head,
For a Prince has come to His Father's home!"
But she answered, " My Son is dead."

After the singing birds are gone
And the leaves are parched and low,
When the kind old earth is gaunt and worn,
Then comes the snow.

Hushed are the world's discordant notes
By the soft hand of snow,
And the beauty of its silence floats
Across me ere I know.

Oh ! when the silver cord is loosed
And the golden bowl is broken,
And the spirit poured on the air unused,
As one hath spoken,

After the last faint throb of breath
And the jar of life's outflow,
After the fever, may not death
Be like the snow?