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In Hospital - XX - Visitor

By William Ernest Henley

Topics: classic

Her little face is like a walnut shell     With wrinkling lines; her soft, white hair adorns     Her withered brows in quaint, straight curls, like horns;     And all about her clings an old, sweet smell.     Prim is her gown and quakerlike her shawl.     Well might her bonnets have been born on her.     Can you conceive a Fairy Godmother     The subject of a strong religious call?     In snow or shine, from bed to bed she runs,     All twinkling smiles and texts and pious tales,     Her mittened hands, that ever give or pray,     Bearing a sheaf of tracts, a bag of buns:     A wee old maid that sweeps the Bridegroom's way,     Strong in a cheerful trust that never fails.

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"Her little face is like a walnut shell..."

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Author:William Ernest Henley

"Her little face is like a walnut shell..." by William Ernest Henley

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William Ernest Henley

About William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) was an English poet, critic, and editor best known for his poem "Invictus" ("I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul"). Written while recovering from tuberculosis of the bone, it has become one of the most quoted poems of courage and resilience.

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"What have I done for you,     England, my England?..."

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