Explore "San Lorenzo Giustiniani's Mother" by Alice Meynell on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
I had not seen my son's dear face / (He chose the cloister by God's grace) / Since it had come to full flower-time. / I hardly guessed at its perfect prime, / That folded flower of his dear face.
Mine eyes were veiled by mists of tears / When on a day in many years / One of his Order came. I thrilled, / Facing, I thought, that face fulfilled. / I doubted, for my mists of tears.
His blessing be with me for ever! / My hope and doubt were hard to sever. / -- That altered face, those holy weeds. / I filled his wallet and kissed his beads, / And lost his echoing feet for ever.
If to my son my alms were given / I know not, and I wait for Heaven. / He did not plead for child of mine, / But for another Child divine, / And unto Him it was surely given.
There is One alone who cannot change; / Dreams are we, shadows, visions strange; / And all I give is given to One. / I might mistake my dearest son, / But never the Son who cannot change.