Poem by William Ernest Henley

In Hospital. 20. Visitor

Her little face is like a walnut shell
With wrinkling lines; her soft, white hair adorns
Her withered brows in quaint, straight curls, like horns;
And all about her clings an old, sweet smell.
Prim is her gown and quakerlike her shawl.
Well might her bonnets have been born on her.
Can you conceive a Fairy Godmother
The subject of a strong religious call?
In snow or shine, from bed to bed she runs,
All twinkling smiles and texts and pious tales,
Her mittened hands, that ever give or pray,
Bearing a sheaf of tracts, a bag of buns:
A wee old maid that sweeps the Bridegroom's way,
Strong in a cheerful trust that never fails.

1. In Hospital. 8. Staff-Nurse: Old Style
2. London Voluntaries. 5. Allegro Maëstoso
3. Echoes. 32. O, Falmouth Is a Fine Town
4. In Hospital. 22. Pastoral
5. Ballade of the Toyokuni Colour-Print

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