St. Augustine and Monica
St. Augustine and Monica
Original Text
The Collected Sonnets of Charles (Tennyson) Turner. Ed. F. B. Pinion and M. Pinion (London: MacMillan Press, 1988) : 109.
1When Monica's young son had felt her kiss --
2Her weeping kiss -- for years, her sorrow flowed
3At last into his wilful blood; he owed
4To her his after-life of truth and bliss:
5And her own joy, what words, what thoughts could paint!
6When o'er his soul, with sweet constraining force,
7Came Penitence -- a fusion from remorse --
8And made her boy a glorious Christian saint.
9Oh ye, who tend the young through doubtful years
10Along the busy path from birth to death,
11Parents and friends! forget not in your fears
12The secret strength of prayer, the holy breath
13That swathes your darlings! think how Austin's faith
14Rose like a star upon his mother's tears!
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2004
Rhyme
Form