| J. C. Squire, ed. A Book of Women’s Verse. 1921. | | | | A Soul | | By Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) |
| | | SHE stands as pale as Parian statues stand; | |
| Like Cleopatra when she turned at bay, | |
| And felt her strength above the Roman sway, | |
| And felt the aspic writhing in her hand. | |
| Her face is steadfast toward the shadowy land, | 5 |
| For dim beyond it looms the land of day: | |
| Her feet are steadfast, all the arduous way | |
| That foot-track doth not waver on the sand. | |
| She stands there like a beacon through the night, | |
| A pale clear beacon where the storm-drift is— | 10 |
| She stands alone, a wonder deathly-white. | |
| She stands there patient nerved with inner might, | |
| Indomitable in her feebleness, | |
| Her face and will athirst against the light. | | | | |
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