The Woman Answers.

What will I say when face to face with God     My naked soul shall come, seared with the stain     That men call sin? Why, God will understand;     He knew my pitiful story long before     My frail dust quickened with the breath of life;     He knew the mystery of that day of days     When, thrilled with virgin wonder, I should come     Bearing the lily of my stainless love     To plant upon the desert of desire.     I do not fear His judgment; He knows all.     I do not fear His judgment lest it be     That I shall look no more upon his face     Who taught my heart to love; and, surely, One     Who wrought a perfect note from these poor strings     Will not condemn to discord when the strain     Has reached the fullness of its harmony.     I do not fear His judgment, but I weep     For him who slew the lily with a kiss     Too full of passion's rapture; if I speak     In that transcendent moment when I stand     A sinful woman at the bar of God     To hear my sentence, I shall answer still:     "I loved him; that was all that I could do;     I love him; that is all that I can say!"