From out the front of being, undefiled, 
A life hath been upheaved with struggle and pain; 
Safe in her arms a mother holds again 
That dearest miracle--a new-born child. 
To moans of anguish terrible and wild-- 
As shrieks the night-wind through an ill-shut pane-- 
Pure heaven succeeds; and after fiery strain 
Victorious woman smiles serenely mild. 

Yea, shall she not rejoice, shall not her frame 
Thrill with a mystic rapture! At this birth, 
The soul now kindled by her vital flame 
May it not prove a gift of priceless worth? 
Some saviour of his kind whose starry fame 
Shall bring a brightness to the darkened earth.