“Queen and huntress, chaste and fair, Now the sun is laid to sleep; Seated in thy silver chair, State in wonted manner keep: Hesperus entreats thy light, Goddess excellently bright.
“Lay thy bow of pearl apart, And thy crystal shining quiver; Give unto the flying hart Space to breathe, how short soever, Thou who mak’st a day of night, Goddess excellently bright.” Ben Jonson.
IX.
Dear Lady! oft I meditate on thee, Noblest companion and fit peer of him Whom envious years, in high prosperity, Could blemish least, nor aught the lustre dim Of that fair-fashioned native piety Embosomed in the soul that smiles on Fate, And held by him and thee inviolate,— Fountain of youth, still sparkling o’er the brim. Then I recall thy salient quick wit, Its arrowy quiver and its supple bow,— Huntress of wrong! right well thy arrows hit, Though from the wound thou see’st the red drops flow: I much admire that dexterous archery, And pray that sinners may thy target be.
“Upon the nineteenth day of the first month, they keep a solemn festival to Hermes, wherein they eat honey and figs, and withal, say these words, ‘Truth is a sweet thing;’ and that amulet or charm which they fable to hang about her is, when interpreted in our language,
‘A true voice.’”
X.
Thou, Sibyl rapt! whose sympathetic soul Infused the myst’ries thy tongue failed to tell; Though from thy lips the marvellous accents fell, And weird wise meanings o’er the senses stole, Through those rare cadences, with winsome spell; Yet, even in such refrainings of thy voice, There struggled up a wailing undertone, That spoke thee victim of the Sisters’ choice,— Charming all others, dwelling still alone. They left thee thus disconsolate to roam, And scorned thy dear, devoted life to spare. Around the storm-tost vessel sinking there The wild waves chant thy dirge and welcome home; Survives alone thy sex’s valiant plea, And the great heart that loved the brave and free.
“One knocked at the Beloved’s door, and a Voice asked from within, Who is there? And he answered, It is I. Then the Voice said, This house will not hold me and thee, and the door was not opened. Then went the Lover into the desert, and fasted and prayed in solitude. And after a year he returned, and knocked again at the door. And again the Voice asked, Who is there? and he said, It is Thyself. And the door was opened to him.”