FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE

I.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Come and see the lady with a lamp,
Who minsters to the sick.
Is she not blessed and merciful?

Loved by all women
And honored by all men;
Even the great writers of all time
Found truth in your works of life.

The melodious song you sang
A long time ago is still sweet:
Echoing over realms, time and space
To beat soothingly on our hearts.

You are the damsel with a lamp;
The wounded soldiers touch their scars
And remember your tender hands
That cared for them when the night was dark.

Peer down at us from paradise
And see how the physicians raise you high
And heal the wounded in their fallen state
Until their pain becomes a thing of the past.

II.


Born in Florence in the heart of Italy and loved by her father, mother and dear siblings,
She started her walk in the path of excellence when she came to the understanding of her call in Embley Park, where she decided to be obedient to God by devoting her life to the service of others; all against the norms barrack;family and the society where a woman is meant to take up a life of motherhood and leave the rest of the world's system to the running of men.


She mastered the art and science of nursing that she may be relevant to the future generation.
Who will see a portrait of her and say she is not beautiful? She was attractive, slender and graceful. Yes! She was the golden jewel every intelligent man would like to claim.

Mother of Athena, the comely Owl!

She travelled the expanse of the world from Rome to Greece to Egypt and Germany.
Blessed are you Florence nightingale, the merciful! We see your work during the Crimean war where like a mighty heiress of old, you deployed your expertise in the Ottoman Empire across the black sea where the main British camp was based; and when you arrived at the barrack; where the physicians were overworked; where the soldiers were poorly cared for and medicines and equipments were in short supply,

You found a way to shoulder the burden of the armies, becoming the warden of life that wards away pestilence and death.


We remember your warmth and heroic act. You brought color and meaning to the nursing system.
Continue to sleep peacefully in paradise.

©Okunola Peace.