Vestal Virgin

Dear little girl, so solemn and so good,
you know your destiny – have always known
since Vesta marked you as her very own.
The time has come; your childhood now is past.
You would not change things even if you could!
You'll serve your Goddess for the next ten years
by learning how to conquer all your fears
so you can reach your honoured goal at last.

For ten more years you'll tend the sacred flame,
the most important job in all of Rome;
you'll be a Priestess in your Temple home,
as pure, as vital as the flame you tend.
And then, ten years as teacher you will claim
to show another little girl the ways
a Vestal Virgin spends her blessed days.
Three decades, then your life is yours to spend.

A Vestal Virgin walks through Rome alone -
she walks quite safely there, for all men fear
the women fiery Vesta once held dear;
thus after thirty years this life of hers
is barren, for she spends it on her own.
All honour her and bow as she walks by,
and none shall see a Vestal Virgin cry,
or know the aches a woman's longing stirs.