"Oh, is not love eternal
When once the heart be won?
Oh, is not love infernal
When love can be undone?"
So sighed a gentle maiden
In light of memory dear,
As, sad and heavy-laden,
She longed for knowledge clear.
But soon the bitter heart-ache
Gave way to victory's cheer;
For, brave, she chose for His sake
The life which knows no peer;
The life of abnegation
Which gives the Christ's own peace,
But leaves the sad temptation
To ask for life's release.