What he,—the man whose eyes were open—said
Aforetime, ‘I shall see him;—but not now!’
Says he, ‘I shall behold him;—but not nigh:
‘Out of Jacob there shall come forth a Star,
‘And a Sceptre in Israel shall be raised high.’—
So he bare witness of things seen afar.
And that being told so many years ago,
Yet still to come, do surely seem to show
How we be likelier to behold that Star
Than he who only spoke o’ it from afar.