A friend sent this to me. She said she found it in the poetry archives at www.emule.com

????

Nuns of the Perpetual Adoration
by Ernest Dowson

Calm, sad, secure; behind high convent walls,
These watch the sacred lamp, these watch and pray:
And it is one with them when evening falls,
And one with them the cold return of day.

These heed not time; their nights and days they make
Into a long returning rosary,
Whereon their lives are threaded for Christ's sake;
Meekness and vigilance and chastity.

A vowed patrol, in silent companies,
Life-long they keep before the living Christ.
In the dim church, their prayers and penances
Are fragrant incense to the Sacrificed.

Outside, the world is wild and passionate;
Man's weary laughter and his sick despair
Entreat at their impenetrable gate:
They heed no voices in their dream of prayer.

They saw the glory of the world displayed;
They saw the bitter of it, and the sweet;
They knew the roses of the world should fade,
And be trod under by the hurrying feet.

Therefore they rather put away desire,
And crossed their hands and came to sanctuary
And veiled their heads and put on coarse attire:
Because their comeliness was vanity.

And there they rest; they have serene insight
Of the illuminating dawn to be:
Mary's sweet Star dispels for them the night,
The proper darkness of humanity.

Calm, sad, secure; with faces worn and mild:
Surely their choice of vigil is the best?
Yea! for our roses fade, the world is wild;
But there, beside the altar, there is rest.

Sorry. I guess I hit enter and it posted before I could paste the poem.

The more I read it the more I like it. This is my favorite stanza



Who is he writing about, I wonder. It starts out in the present tense and then shifts to past tense about half way through. I wonder why?

I'm not sure. . .maybe, wherever he is, those nuns are no more? Or he just chose past tense, because of the element in time, in which he observed them? I just love the 5th and 6th stanzas. And of course, the last one!

You start liking it when it becomes past tense. My favorite stanza is written in the present tense.

Where are the psycho-analysts when you need them?

yea yea, well, I interpret it that when he's speaking of those nuns, it's something already happened. These are the actions they DID. . .in order to be ever present (tense) . . .in the first stanza.

Either that, or he's a poor grammarian who doesn't know how to keep to one tense!

I used to get in so much trouble for inconsistant tenses on my papers in high school and undergrad!!!!

Anyway, it really is a beautiful and thought-provoking poem. Thanks for sharing!

That is an amazing poem.
God Bless

very deep and beautiful poem. It has a wonderful beat, or, texture/type. It says allot about the Poor Clares, if you look in it. Wonderful

Hey Lori, when are you going to visit Ohio?

ooo I don't know when, I would so LOVE to go asap, but of course, I have many years to go before I can even visit Hanceville first. Do you know if they have vocations retreats, or personal retreats? I know you can go on a personal retreat in Hanceville right? Did you visit the shrine in Hanceville? Or the other 2 locations, (Arizona and the other one in Ohio) ?
Ok too many questions!

I visited OLAM when it was in Irondale many moons ago. I've visited AZ, and OH, of course. Ohio allows for personal retreats, but they haven't had a vocation retreat, as far as I know. Perhaps that will change. AZ? They keep saying they're going to have one, but I haven't seen anything definite.

ok thanks allot! Maybe I will contact Ohio/Arizona along with OLAM when I reach the age!
Do you mind if I ask you, how you came to decide, on which order, and how you decided on Ohio?

Rather than paste an old post here, I just sent you a PM

haha ok great

Denise, The poem made me smile ...Will you share it with the sisters in Ohio? Brandelynmarie

Yes, I'll be sharing it with the sisters I made a copy for them.