Once again he knows the Dragon
        Wisdom of the prime. 
High and yet more high to freedom
        as a bird he springs,
And the aureole outbreathing,
        gold and silver wings
Plume the brow and crown the seraph. 
        Soon his journey done
He will pass our eyes that follow,
        sped beyond the sun. 
None may know the darker radiance,
        King, will there be thine. 
Rapt above the Light and hidden
        in the Dark Divine.

—­September 15, 1895

Brotherhood

Twilight a blossom grey in shadowy valleys dwells: 
Under the radiant dark the deep blue-tinted bells
In quietness reimage heaven within their blooms,
Sapphire and gold and mystery.  What strange perfumes,
Out of what deeps arising, all the flower-bells fling,
Unknowing the enchanted odorous song they sing! 
Oh, never was an eve so living yet:  the wood
Stirs not but breathes enraptured quietude. 
Here in these shades the Ancient knows itself, the Soul,
And out of slumber waking starts unto the goal. 
What bright companions nod and go along with it! 
Out of the teeming dark what dusky creatures flit,
That through the long leagues of the island night above
Come wandering by me, whispering and beseeching love,—­
As in the twilight children gather close and press
Nigh and more nigh with shadowy tenderness,
Feeling they know not what, with noiseless footsteps glide
Seeking familiar lips or hearts to dream beside. 
Oh, voices, I would go with you, with you, away,
Facing once more the radiant gateways of the day;
With you, with you, what memories arise, and nigh
Trampling the crowded figures of the dawn go by;
Dread deities, the giant powers that warred on men
Grow tender brothers and gay children once again;
Fades every hate away before the Mother’s breast
Where all the exiles of the heart return to rest.

—­July 15, 1895

In the Womb

Still rests the heavy share on the dark soil: 
        Upon the dull black mould the dew-damp lies: 
The horse waits patient:  from his lonely toil
        The ploughboy to the morning lifts his eyes.

The unbudding hedgerows, dark against day’s fires,
        Glitter with gold-lit crystals:  on the rim
Over the unregarding city’s spires
        The lonely beauty shines alone for him.

And day by day the dawn or dark enfolds,
        And feeds with beauty eyes that cannot see
How in her womb the Mighty Mother moulds
        The infant spirit for Eternity.

—­January 15, 1895

In the Garden of God

Within the iron cities
        One walked unknown for years,
In his heart the pity of pities
        That grew for human tears