“Let God doom as He doth ordain;
He will not turn one foot aside;
Thy good deeds mount up but in vain,
Thou must in sorrow ever bide;
Stint of thy strife, cease to complain,
Seek His compassion safe and wide,
Thy prayer His pity may obtain,
Till Mercy all her might have tried. 
Thy anguish He will heal and hide,
And lightly lift away thy gloom;
For, be thou sore or satisfied,
All is for Him to deal and doom.”

VII

Doom me not, dearest damosel;
It is not for wrath nor bitterness,
If rash and raving thoughts I tell. 
For sin my heart seethed in distress,
Like bubbling water in a well. 
I cry God mercy, and confess. 
Rebuke me not with words so fell;
I have lost all that my life did bless;
Comfort my sorrow and redress,
Piteously thinking upon this: 
Grief and my soul thou hast made express
One music,—­thou who wert my bliss.

“My bliss and bale, thou hast been both,
But joy by great grief was undone;
When thou didst vanish, by my troth,
I knew not where my Pearl was gone. 
To lose thee now I were most loth. 
Dear, when we parted we were one;
Now God forbid that we be wroth,
We meet beneath the moon or sun
So seldom.  Gently thy words run,
But I am dust, my deeds amiss;
The mercy of Christ and Mary and John
Is root and ground of all my bliss.”

“A blissful life I see thee lead,
The while that I am sorrow’s mate;
Haply thou givest little heed
What might my burning hurt abate. 
Since I may in thy presence plead,
I do beseech thee thou narrate,
Soberly, surely, word and deed,
What life is thine, early and late? 
I am fain of thy most fair estate;
The high road of my joy is this,
That thou hast happiness so great;
It is the ground of all my bliss.”

She said, “May bliss to thee betide,”
Her face with beauty beaming clear,
“Welcome thou art here to abide,
For now thy speech is to me dear. 
Masterful mood and haughty pride,
I warn thee win but hatred here;
For my Lord loveth not to chide
And meek are all that to Him come near. 
When in His place thou shalt appear,
To kneel devout be not remiss,
My Lord the Lamb loveth such cheer,
Who is the ground of all my bliss.”

“Thou sayest a blissful life I know,
And thou wouldst learn of its degree. 
Thou rememberest when thy pearl fell low
In earth, I was but young to see;
But my Lord the Lamb, as if to show
His grace, took me His bride to be,
Crowned me a queen in bliss to go
Through length of days eternally;
And dowered with all His wealth is she
Who is His love, and I am His;
His worthiness and royalty
Are root and ground of all my bliss.”

VIII