Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — Santa Filomena

Whene'er a noble deed is wrought, Whene'er is spoken a noble thought,          Our hearts, in glad surprise,          To higher levels rise. The tidal wave of deeper souls Into our inmost being rolls,          And lifts us unawares          Out of all meaner cares. Honor to those whose words or deeds Thus help us in our daily needs,          And by their overflow          Raise us from what is low! Thus thought I, as by night I read Of the great army of the dead,          The trenches cold and damp,          The starved and frozen camp,— The wounded from the battle-plain, In dreary hospitals of pain,          The cheerless corridors,          The cold and stony floors. Lo! in that house of misery A lady with a lamp I see          Pass through the glimmering gloom,          And flit from room to room. And slow, as in a dream of bliss, The speechless sufferer turns to kiss          Her shadow, as it falls          Upon the darkening walls. As if a door in heaven should be Opened and then closed suddenly,          The vision came and went,          The light shone and was spent. On England's annals, through the long Hereafter of her speech and song,          That light its rays shall cast          From portals of the past. A Lady with a Lamp shall stand In the great history of the land,          A noble type of good,          Heroic womanhood. Nor even shall be wanting here The palm, the lily, and the spear,          The symbols that of yore          Saint Filomena bore.