She stands as pale as Parian statues stand; <br />Like Cleopatra when she turned at bay, <br />And felt her strength above the Roman sway, <br />And felt the aspic writhing in her hand. <br />Her face is steadfast toward the shadowy land, <br />For dim beyond it looms the light of day; <br />Her feet are steadfast; all the arduous way <br />That foot-track hath not wavered on the sand. <br />She stands there like a beacon thro' the night, <br />A pale clear beacon where the storm-drift is; <br />She stands alone, a wonder deathly white; <br />She stands there patient, nerved with inner might, <br />Indomitable in her feebleness, <br />Her face and will athirst against the light.<br /><br />Christina Georgina Rossetti<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-study-a-soul/
