See you that bracket where the Virgin stands,
A crown upon her head, and in her arms
An Infant very lovely? Mary's charms
Will earn at last the suffrage of all lands.
And when I gaze on her, my heart expands
In filial invocation, that no harms
My studies may engender, no alarms
Affright me from the path of her commands
Nor of a statue merely do I tell;
The real Mother near me deigns to stay.
There is delusion in our heaven and hell,
Whene'er we dream of them as far away;
We cannot think how near they are, or dwell
More in the centre of their night and day.