Destroyers and Other Verses/Long Ago I Used To Pray

by Henry Head

 

Long ago I used to prayTo be loved and to be wooed,Spotlessly as maidens may,Ignorant of motherhood.

Now I am to woman grown,Love seems but an idle mood,For I hear in every toneOvertures to motherhood.

And I lie and pray to thee,Mary Virgin, pure and good,Thou canst calm the raging sea,Still my cry for motherhood.

Grant my breasts may yield replyTo an infants cry for food;May his dimpled fingers lieOn those springs of motherhood.

I would brave the hideous painOf they death-watch by the rood,If by sorrow I could gainThe fierce joy of motherhood.