Classic Poem

L'INCORONATA .

Come , thou stillest of all Hours,
Let abroad go nothing ill;
That the Vestals of the Flowers
May their mystic rites fulfil.

On her brow is set the splendor
Of the Everlasting Seal;
And behold the Vestals enter,
And around The Maiden kneel!

Slowly as sweet incense stealing
Upward on the Sabbath air,
All arising from their kneeling,
Take the flowers from their hair.

Noiseless-footed, odor-breathing,
Azure-bodied, vapor-slow, —
All around and round her wreathing, —
Doth the lovely Chorus go!

None with weeping, none with grieving, —
Being pure forevermore! —
What are they so fondly weaving
Of the Flowers which they wore?

'T is the Wreath!
'T is the Heavenly Wreath!
'T is the Wreath of the Heart's Desire,
'T is the Wreath of the Vestal Choir!
'T is the Vestal Wreath.

" Twine! Vestal Sisters! Twine!
All in sweetest surety;
Twine the Valley-Lily's bells
With Maidenhair, and Immortelles,
And all the Flowers of Purity, —
Vestal Sisters, twine and twine!

" Round and round the virgin brow,
Holy keep the Vestal Vow!
Sacred keep the Vestal Spell:
Weave it deep and weave it well!
Weave it sweet and weave it sure!
Blessed, blessed are the Pure.

" Twine! Twine!
Sisters, ere the moon is set,
Twine the white, White Violet, —
While the Vestal dews are on it yet, —
With the myriad-starred Mignonette;
Twine, Vestal Sisters, twine!

" Hand to hand around her head,
With a blossom-light, slow tread!
Leaf to leaf, and stem to stem,
Weave the Vestal Diadem! —
Crescent, Crown, and Cynosure:
Blessed, blessed are the Pure.

" And twine, twine, twine,
The Fairest of all the Vestal Flowers,
That bloom in the blessed Eden-bowers
Of the Heart below, or the Heaven above:
The Maiden Flower of The Maiden's Love!
Twine, Vestal Sisters, twine!

" Crowned is the virgin brow!
Holy kept the Vestal Vow!
Sacred kept the Vestal Spell:
She is crowned and crowned well!
Crowned sweet and crowned sure!
Blessed, blessed are the Pure. "