Not _So long she lived_
Will thy tomb report of thee;
But _So long she grieved_:
Thus must we date thy memory.
Others by days, by months, by years,
Measure their ages, thou by tears.
Say, ye bright brothers,
The fugitive sons of those fair eyes
Your fruitful mothers,
What make you here? What hopes can ’tice
You to be born? What cause can borrow
You from those nests of noble sorrow?
Whither away so fast
For sure the sordid earth
Your sweetness cannot taste,
Nor does the dust deserve your birth.
Sweet, whither haste you then? O say,
Why you trip so fast away?
_We go not to seek_
_The darlings of Aurora’s bed,_
_The rose’s modest cheek,_
_Nor the violet’s humble head._
_No such thing: we go to meet_
_A worthier object--our Lord’s feet._
_338._ _A Hymn to the Name and Honour of the Admirable Saint Teresa_
Love, thou art absolute, sole Lord
Of life and death. To prove the word,
We’ll now appeal to none of all
Those thy old soldiers, great and tall,
Ripe men of martyrdom, that could reach down
With strong arms their triumphant crown:
Such as could with lusty breath
Speak loud, unto the face of death,
Their great Lord’s glorious name; to none
Of those whose spacious bosoms spread a throne
For love at large to fill. Spare blood and sweat:
We’ll see Him take a private seat,
And make His mansion in the mild
And milky soul of a soft child.
Scarce has she learnt to lisp a name
Of martyr, yet she thinks it shame
Life should so long play with that breath
Which spent can buy so brave a death.
She never undertook to know
What death with love should have to do.
Nor has she e’er yet understood
Why, to show love, she should shed blood;
Yet, though she cannot tell you why,
She can love, and she can die.
Scarce has she blood enough to make
A guilty sword blush for her sake;
Yet has a heart dares hope to prove
How much less strong is death than love....
Since ’tis not to be had at home,
She’ll travel for a martyrdom.
No home for her, confesses she,
But where she may a martyr be.
She’ll to the Moors, and trade with them
For this unvalued diadem;
She offers them her dearest breath,
With Christ’s name in ’t, in change for death:
She’ll bargain with them, and will give
Them God, and teach them how to live
In Him; or, if they this deny,
For Him she’ll teach them how to die.
So shall she leave amongst them sown
Her Lord’s blood, or at least her own.
Farewell then, all the world, adieu!
Teresa is no more for you.
Farewell all pleasures, sports, and joys,
Never till now esteemèd toys!
Farewell whatever dear may be--
Mother’s arms, or father’s knee!
Farewell house, and farewell home!
She’s for the Moors and Martyrdom.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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