Page:Poems, now first collected, Stedman, 1897.djvu/55

THE STAR BEARER And the wintry Earth their omens knew

Of Spring's beatitude;

Rude folk, ere yet the promise came,

Gave to their orbs a heathen name,

Saying how steadfast in men's view

The watchful Pleiads stood.

All in the solstice of the year,

When the sun apace must turn,

The seven bright angels 'gan to hear

Heaven's twin gates outward yearn:

Forth with its light and minstrelsy

A lordly troop came speeding by,

And joyed to see each cresset sphere

So gloriously burn.

Staying his fearless passage then

The Captain of that host

Spake with strong voice: "We bear to men

God's gift the uttermost,

Whereof the oracle and sign

Sibyl and sages may divine:

A star shall blazon in their ken,

Borne with us from your post.

35