Then Ruth, the Moabitess, modestly:
'I was a stranger; yet, 'twas given to me
To be a bearer of the Progeny.
Through me was blessed the Gentile blood, to be
In Him restored to Life, eternally.'
Then Bethsabee: 'O Mother, look on me,
Sinner and penitent: and yet through me
The King arose, who by Divine decree
The Temple raised, and Sion made to be
The centre of God's Glory, lastingly.'
Spake Jael, Wife of Haber: 'Think on me,
O Mother, by the Almighty called to be
The Smiter of the Flying, valiantly.
Did I not her foreshadow, who will be
The Smiter of thy deadliest Enemy?'
Judith, the widowed Anchoress: 'Oh, see,
Mother of all the Living. Look on me
The Handmaid of the Lord, through chastity
I struck the head of Holofernes - she
Will bruise the head of thine Arch-enemy.
Then Esther, lovely Queen: 'Dear Mother, see
In tribulation God appointed me
The Pleader for my brethren: also he
Who made me Queen, was great; yet he
My supplication granted - graciously.'
Then Eve arose, in queenly dignity:
'Hear me, ye Daughters. Blessed may ye be
Till time be mellowed in Eternity.
Yet are ye shadows only: the decree
Which dooms to death may not reversed be
'Until she cometh who will mightily
The Serpent crush whose word conceived by me
Hath brought forth death. The Word of Truth must she
Conceive, and bring forth Life - if Life may be
Restored, and death out-blotted, endlessly.'
- text taken from Mary: The Perfect Woman, by Emily Mary Shapcote