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A LEGEND OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
[The legend is taken from an old miracle-play of the fifteenth century, a reference to which is to be found in Rev. Mr. Hudson's late excellent book on Shakespeare's Times and Characters. The author had turned the legend into verse before he perceived that it differed essentially from the Scripture narrative, its antiquity misleading him.]
THE day of Joseph's marriage unto Mary,
In thoughtful mood he said unto his wife,
"Behold, I go into a far-off country
To labor for thee, and to make thy life
And home all sweet and peaceful." And the Virgin
Unquestioning beheld her spouse depart:
Then lived she many days of musing gladness,
Not knowing that God's hand was round her heart.
And dreaming thus one day within her chamber,
She wept with speechless bliss, when lo! the face
Of white-winged angel Gabriel rose before her,
And bowing spoke, "Hail! Mary, full of grace,
