Poems of Purpose by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
page 56 of 78 (71%)
page 56 of 78 (71%)
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And no one talked;
And no one toiled, but many strove to flee away. Robbers and thieves, and those sunk in drunkenness and crime, Men and women of evil repute, And mothers with fatherless children in their arms, all strove to hide. But the Revealing Angels passed them by, Saying: 'Not you, not you. Another day, when we shall come again Unto the haunts of men, Then we will call your names; But God has asked us first to bring to him Those guilty of greater shames Than lust, or theft, or drunkenness, or vice - Yea, greater than murder done in passion, Or self-destruction done in dark despair. Now in His Holy Name we call: Come one and all Come forth; reveal your faces.' Then through the awful silence of the world, Where noise had ceased, they came - The sinful hosts. They came from lowly and from lofty places, Some poorly clad, but many clothed like queens; They came from scenes of revel and from toil; From haunts of sin, from palaces, from homes, From boudoirs, and from churches. They came like ghosts - THE VAST BRIGADES OF WOMEN WHO HAD SLAIN THEIR HELPLESS, UNBORN CHILDREN. With them trailed |
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