Explore "Cy Est Pourtraicte, Madame Ste Ursule, Et Les Unze Mille Vierges" by Wallace Stevens on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Ursula, in a garden, found / A bed of radishes. / She kneeled upon the ground / And gathered them, / With flowers around, / Blue, gold, pink, and green.
She dressed in red and gold brocade / And in the grass an offering made / Of radishes and flowers.
She said, "My dear, / Upon your altars, / I have placed / The marguerite and coquelicot, / And roses / Frail as April snow; / But here," she said, / "Where none can see, / I make an offering, in the grass, / Of radishes and flowers. " / And then she wept / For fear the Lord would not accept.
The good Lord in His garden sought / New leaf and shadowy tinct, / And they were all His thought. / He heard her low accord, / Half prayer and half ditty, / And He felt a subtle quiver, / That was not heavenly love, / Or pity.
This is not writ / In any book.