29 MAY 1953, Page 14

Mary's Testament

Why do you grieve ? I do not grieve. Death and decay are my beginning. Birth and growth and death but weave The pattern from the lifeline spinning Endlessly, the line whose end Cannot be told from its beginning.

Why do you weep ? I do not weep. Why grudge the earth its winter sleep ?

Why do you weep, why do you grieve For one who finds her life beginning In every line the seconds weave From the thread that's always spinning, Knowing that what she knew as end Cannot be told from her beginning ?

A. I. C. H.