Mirror of Justice, lo, we find in thee
Woman restored to her lost dignity.
The Second Adam willeth not to be
Without acknowledged Help-mate: verily,
Justice fulfilling, hath He chosen thee.
As in their nature lies equality
'Twixt Man and Woman, so He found in thee,
As Man, His Nature's equal; for we see -
Although in nature Woman - thou couldst be
Heroic in thine acts' sublimity.
For Him indeed was no necessity -
But all things as is fittest. He would be
As Man, a Man - since Man He deigned to be:
And thou, the Second Eve, by dignity
Must needs be fit to share His destiny.
If thou wert fit, 'twas He who fitted thee,
O Mother, Full of Grace and Sympathy:
If fair, in beauty He created thee;
If wise and prudent, 'twas His piety
That graced His Mother with her dignity.
If Woman is the compliment to be
Of Man in His creation, then must she
Of Woman's grace in nothing wanting be:
Rather, she brings him as her dowery
That which is lacking to his entity.
In God the Father (speak we reverently)
All is, that constitutes Humanity:
The Father's strength and worth and dignity;
The Mother's sweetness and benignity -
O God, our Father, Mother, Both is He.
But in created being, lo, we see
Divided are these graces equally
'Twixt Man and Woman: so equality
Of nature be acknowledged, and may be
In all its acts concerted, harmony.
- text taken from Mary: The Perfect Woman, by Emily Mary Shapcote