Poems (Jackson)/Demeter
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LEGEND of foul shame to motherhood!
How doubly orphaned ignorance which wrought
Such tale; which deemed a mother's soul had bought
One healing for her woe in that she could
Strike other mothers desolate;—made good
Her loss by theirs, unpitying while they sought
As she had sought, weeping and finding nought
But cruel empty places where had stood
The children.
Ah, true motherhood, bereft,
Finds only joy in thought that joy is left
For other mothers: smiling, it abides
In loneliness, a little way apart,
And from all happy mothers gladly hides,
And veils the chilly winter in its heart.
DEMETER.
LEGEND of foul shame to motherhood!How doubly orphaned ignorance which wrought
Such tale; which deemed a mother's soul had bought
One healing for her woe in that she could
Strike other mothers desolate;—made good
Her loss by theirs, unpitying while they sought
As she had sought, weeping and finding nought
But cruel empty places where had stood
The children.
Ah, true motherhood, bereft,
Finds only joy in thought that joy is left
For other mothers: smiling, it abides
In loneliness, a little way apart,
And from all happy mothers gladly hides,
And veils the chilly winter in its heart.