Religion

Lines for a Drawing of Our Lady of the Night

by Francis Thompson 1859–1907

From Works (1913), vol. I

Religion

THIS, could I paint my inward sight,
This were Our Lady of the Night:
She bears on her front’s lucency
The starlight of her purity:
For as the white rays of that star
The union of all colours are,
She sums all virtues that may be
In her sweet light of purity.

The mantle which she holds on high
Is the great mantle of the sky.

Think, O sick toiler, when the night
Comes on thee, sad and infinite,
Think, sometimes, ’tis our own Lady
Spreads her blue mantle over thee,
And folds the earth, a wearied thing,
Beneath its gentle shadowing;
Then rest a little; and in sleep
Forget to weep, forget to weep!

MLA

Thompson, Francis. “Lines for a Drawing of Our Lady of the Night.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/thompson/99/.

Chicago

Thompson, Francis. “Lines for a Drawing of Our Lady of the Night.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/thompson/99/.

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