Cambridge Poets 1900–1913

James Elroy Flecker . MARY MAGDALEN . o EYES that strip the souls of men ! There came to me the Magdalen : Her blue robe with a cord was bound , Her hair with knotted ivy crowned . " Arise ," she said , " God calls for thee , Turned to new paths thy feet must be. Leave the fever and the feast, Leave the friend thou lovest best; For thou must walk in barefoot ways, On hills, where God is near to praise . Then answered I, “ Sweet Magdalen , God 's servant, once beloved of men , Why didst thou change old ways for new , Thy trailing red for corded blue , Roses for ivy on thy brow , That splendour for this barren vow ? ” Gentle of speech she answered me : " Sir , I was sick with revelry . True , I have scarred the night with sin, A pale and tawdry heroine ; But once I heard a voice that said ' Who lives in sin is like one dead , But follow : thy dark eyes shall see The towns of immortality !' "