Public-domain source text

Santa Agueda

by Voltairine de Cleyre

From Standard Ebooks · standardebooks/voltairine-de-cleyre_poetry

(Where the torturer Canovas breathed his last.)
Santa Agueda, thou that wast accursed With presence of a demon dressed in Man, Blessed art thou, for on thy stones there ran The vampire blood from bitter torture nursed; Along thy streets there flashed the lightning-burst, “Delivered!” flaming on from eye to eye, Though lips said “killed,” and all thy gateways hearsed In lying black, made mourning mockery. Blessed art thou! From thee went forth the cry, “Vengeance yet loves, Renunciation hates, And justice smites: the torturer shall die ;” Across his path the steel-nerved slayer waits “And both shall burn together,”⁠—one in light Of unconsuming hell and reddened night; And one with feet on hell and brow dawn-rayed, pure white .
Philadelphia, August, 1898 .

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This is a source transcription from Standard Ebooks, published in Past Poetry’s public-domain archive without line-by-line editorial notes. Public-domain source edition. Availability can vary by territory.

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