Saint Ouen by Marie Van Vorst (1913)
The speaker kneels before a virgin’s altar in a cathedral, placing two candles and praying for the united lives and love of herself and her Belovèd. Surrounded by sacred stillness, incense, and the dim grandeur of the cathedral, she feels God has heard her prayer and forgiven her need. Yet she fears that, after such grace, she may fall into sin and suffer for it. Addressing the Belovèd, who has restored her capacity for prayer and creed, she begs for forgiveness and spiritual absolution, believing her soul will otherwise be lost.
By Marie Van Vorst · First published 1913 · Genre: Religious Poetry, Love Poetry, Devotional Poetry · 162 words
First lines
Oh shrive my soul, Belovèd! Yesterday / I placed two candles, straight and slim and fair / Before a virgin's altar, kneeling there / For our united lives and love to pray. / Around me the cathedral's stillness lay; / The mystery of God was everywhere; / Lifting the misty aisles through incensed air / Uprose the threading pillars, dim and grey.
God heard my prayer: and He forgave my need, / If after that day's grace and majesty / I fall and pay my sin with bitter cost; -- / You who have taught me prayer again, and creed, / Bend down in dear forgiveness unto me! / Shrive me, Belovèd! or my soul is lost.
What this Textopian page supports
Saint Ouen is listed on Textopian as a poem by Marie Van Vorst, dated 1913 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Marie Van Vorst
- Date: 1913 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Religious Poetry, Love Poetry, Devotional Poetry, Confessional Poetry, Spiritual Poetry
- Length: 162 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Saint Ouen by Marie Van Vorst
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Religious Poetry — The poem is structured as a prayer of confession and supplication, invoking God, a virgin's altar, forgiveness, creed, sin, and the salvation of the speaker's soul.
- Love Poetry — Its central emotional concern is the speaker's profound attachment to the Belovèd, for whose shared life and love the speaker prays and from whom forgiveness is sought.
- Devotional Poetry — Cathedral imagery, ritual candles, kneeling, incense, prayer, and reverence give the poem the contemplative and worshipful character of devotional verse.
- Confessional Poetry — The first-person speaker directly admits spiritual weakness, fears falling into sin, and urgently requests absolution.
Tags
fiction · novel · romance · historical fiction · French setting · France · aristocracy · society · family relationships · love · marriage · social class