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The Poems of Oscar Wilde/Ave Maria Gratia Plena

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For other versions of this work, see Ave Maria Gratia Plena.
The Poems of Oscar Wilde (1909)
by Oscar Wilde
Ave Maria Gratia Plena
4391577The Poems of Oscar Wilde — Ave Maria Gratia Plena1909Oscar Wilde

AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA

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 brown 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:
Some kneeling girl with passionless pale face,
An angel with a lily in his hand,
And over both the white wings of a Dove.

Florence.