Page:King Alfred's Version of the Consolations of Boethius.djvu/300



Call under heaven;    he heralds day

To men in the boroughs;    then he brings

The glorious sun,    the same day for all.

Fair and shining    is the forerunner,

East up-leaping    the sun he leads;

And again after the sun    to his setting glides,

West under world. When night comes,

His name the nations    change for another,

And then they style him    Star of evening.

More swift than the sun,    once they have set,

He speeds past him,    that star all noble,

Until over again    in the east he rises,

To men appearing,    the sun preceding.

Those noble orbs    night from day

By the Lord's power    have fairly parted,

Sun and moon,    in high peace moving

As from the first    the Father appointed.

You need not fear    that these fair ones

Will ever be sated    with this their service

Before doomsday come. Therein He deals,

Mankind's Maker,    as Him meet seems;

For he suffers them not,    the Sovran God,

To be at the same time    on one side of heaven,

Lest they ruin    the rest of creation.

But God Eternal    all things guides,

The broad creation,    in bonds of peace.

Dryness sometimes    drives out wet;

Whiles they mingle,    by the Master's craft,

Cold and heat. To highest heaven

The flame all bright    sometimes flies

Light through the air,    behind it leaving

The weight of the earthly,    though for a while