Danger in the Dark - ZseZse

10 DANGER IN THE DARK.
merely of a little green plot, scarcely an acre in
extent, fenced in by tall iron-railing, shaded by locust
trees, and slightly ornamented with flowers. For a
while she seemed drowned in a sea of forgetfulness;
and sat resting her elbow upon the window-casement,
gracefully reclining her faded cheek on her lily hand;
then raising herself erect, and abstractedly bending a
steadfast gaze on vacancy, began, in a feeble, soft,
and plaintive voice, to utter audibly, the bewildering
thoughts, 'that, like dark waves on the bosom of the
deep, rolled heavily across her disconsolate mindthus
soliloquizing:
" 'Tis done! repining cannot alter it. With vows
most solemn, and binding upon my soul, have I
abjured the world- here within these cloister-walls,
henceforth, to pass my allotted time on earth-devoting
my life to religion! Religion?" she repeated,
hesitatingly, "does religion require a sacrifice of all
we hold dear ~ Is it religion that calls me to a life
of seclusion, austerity, and wretchedness ~ What
then, is religion ~ And whence cometh it, 0 heaven!
if it be lawful to ask ~ Methinks, I hear a voice
sweetlywhisper-'Religion is a form divinely bright!
a seraph of celestial birth!' Can this b,!3true? And
comes it to mortals to fetter the soul and imprison
the body; to shut out the light and beauty of earth,
and make the way t~ heaven dark and difficult?
Comes it to chill the warm affections, and paralyze
the divine emotions which expand the human breast,
and that elevate, refine, and ennoble our nature ~ Is