Clouds--ye eternal wanderers in hunting grounds of air,
High o'er the verdant Steppes, wide through the blue of heaven--
Coursing fraternal,--say, must ye exiled as I
From the beloved North to the far South be driven? ...
Faithful before thee, Mother of God, now kneeling,
Image miraculous and merciful--of thee
Not for my soul's health nor battles waged, beseeching,
Nor yet with thanks or penitence o'erwhelming me! ...
I'm ceded-I've stopped being Theirs-
The name They dropped upon my face
With water, in the country church
Is finished using, now,
And They can put it with my Dolls,
My childhood, and the string of spools,
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