Explore "The Visitation" by Joyce Kilmer on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
(For Louise Imogen Guiney)
There is a wall of flesh before the eyes / Of John, who yet perceives and hails his King. / It is Our Lady's painful bliss to bring / Before mankind the Glory of the skies. / Her cousin feels her womb's sweet burden rise / And leap with joy, and she comes forth to sing, / With trembling mouth, her words of welcoming. / She knows her hidden God, and prophesies.
Saint John, pray for us, weary souls that tarry / Where life is withered by sin's deadly breath. / Pray for us, whom the dogs of Satan harry, / Saint John, Saint Anne, and Saint Elizabeth. / And, Mother Mary, give us Christ to carry / Within our hearts, that we may conquer death.