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Ave Maria plena Gratia

by Oscar Wilde, 1881

Was this His coming! I had hoped to see
   A scene of wondrous glory, as was told
   Of some great God who in a rain of gold
 Broke open bars and fell on Danae:
 Or a dread vision as when Semele
   Sickening for love and unappeased desire
   Prayed to see God’s clear body, and the fire
 Caught her white limbs and slew her utterly:
 With such glad dreams I sought this holy place,
   And now with wondering eyes and heart I stand
   Before this supreme mystery of Love:
 A kneeling girl with passionless pale face,
   An angel with a lily in his hand,
   And over both with outstretched wings the Dove.


FLORENCE.

Published in Poems
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