The Saintly Names

Sisters were they, the fair and holy twain,
Marveena and Morwenna ; and the vales
And mountains of their birth were in wild Wales ;
Thence came they in their youth across the main.
King Breachan was their sire, and his sweet wife,
Gladwise, their mother, gave them love and life.
Virgins they lived and died — Oh not in vain !
One meekly built a solitary cell,
Where still her lingering memory loves to dwell,
In the old arches of grey Marham's fane.
The other sought the sea : her pleasant place
The pilgrim of the waters still may trace,
Where rock and headland watch the ocean-plain.
Mark how their blended names in music flow,
The Church of Marham, and Morwenna's Stow!
Let not the Dreamer-of-the-Past complain —
The Saints, the Sanctuaries, the Creed, this very day remain !