Image Text Author Amy Levy Year 1888 Description Victorian writer, Amy Levy, wrote "A Ballad of Religion and Marriage" during a period where a woman's value was based almost solely upon her marital status. This piece challenges tradition and gender roles in order to show Levy's hope for a future where people aren't judged based upon their religious beliefs or their marital status. Text Swept into limbo is the host Of heavenly angels, row on row; The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Pale and defeated, rise and go. The great Jehovah is laid low, Vanished his burning bush and rod— Say, are we doomed to deeper woe? Shall marriage go the way of God? Monogamous, still at our post, Reluctantly we undergo Domestic round of boiled and roast, Yet deem the whole proceeding slow. Daily the secret murmurs grow; We are no more content to plod Along the beaten paths—and so Marriage must go the way of God. Soon, before all men, each shall toast The seven strings unto his bow, Like beacon fires along the coast, The flame of love shall glance and glow. Nor let nor hindrance man shall know, From natal bath to funeral sod; Perennial shall his pleasures flow When marriage goes the way of God. Grant, in a million years at most, Folk shall be neither pairs nor odd— Alas! we sha'n't be there to boast "Marriage has gone the way of God!" Title of volume of first printing Twelve copies printed for private circulation. Citation Levy, Amy. "A Ballad of Religions and Marriage" Victorian Women Writers Project, Indiana University, 2017: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/vwwp/view?docId=VAB7093 Religion Shame
