Page:King Alfred's Version of the Consolations of Boethius.djvu/286



XXIV
I have feather-wings    fleeter than a bird's,

With which I may fly    far from the earth

Over the high roof    of the heaven above us;

But oh! that I might    your mind furnish,

Your inmost wit,    with these my wings,

Until you might    on this world of mortals,

On all that there lives,    look down easily!

Then you might    mount on pinions

Straight over heaven,    soaring upwards

Wind through the clouds,    and then witness

All from above. You could also fly

Over the fire    that long has fared,

Many a year,    mid air and heaven,

Even as the Father    at first appointed.

Then could you after    the course follow

That the sun takes    between the lights of heaven,

And onward speeding    reach the sphere

Far up aloft;    then in order

That star all cold,    alone in station,

Which is the highest    of heavenly bodies,

By sea-dwellers    beneath the sky

Saturn called;    cold is that star,

Wholly ice-bound,    and highest wanders

Over all others    up in heaven.

Yes, even then,    when you have passed

High over Saturn,    you may still journey,

And then will soon be    above the sphere