Chapter II

Immortal eloquence of mystic Art!
How strangely o'er oblivion and gray time,
That hand doth speak, as in the painter's prime
It uttered thus his own and Mary's heart,
At sight of it, what rich conjectures start,
Adown the years, what wistful Aves chime,
That wake the soul to rapture how sublime,
Wherewith we, too, must bear in Him our part!
For unto each to bring redemption's share,
Whereby adown the ages Christ is borne,
There comes the angel of the lilied rod;
And though our souls with anguish sore are torn,
We pray once more the world-o'ercoming prayer,
And then is born in us the Word of God.

THE VISITATION

(_From the picture in Duerer's series on "The Life of the Virgin"_)

The mountains wonder from their cloudy height,
The skies look on and grow more deep with awe;
From these two women, earthly loves withdraw,
And leave them shrined in some ensphering light,--
More fine than that which greets the earthly sight,
More glorious than that Creation saw,
When, from abeyance to primeval law,
There burst the dawn from out the womb of night;
Yet are all things unchanged around them,--these,
The ancient hills, the town, the quiet trees,
The household presences through which they grope
Blind to all else but to each other's eyes,
Wherein, transforming heaven and earth, there lies
Sublime effulgence of immortal Hope.

A BOTTICELLI MADONNA