The Lion, he prowleth far and near,
Nor swerves for pain or rue;
He heeded nought of sloth nor fear,
He prowleth—prowleth through
The silent glade and the weary street,
In the empty dark and the full noon heat;
And a little Lamb with aching Feet—
He prowleth too.
The Lion croucheth alert, apart—
With patience doth he woo;
He waiteth long by the shuttered heart,
And the Lamb—He waiteth too.
Up the lurid passes of dreams that kill,
Through the twisting maze of the great Untrue,
The Lion followeth the fainting will—
And the Lamb—He followeth too.
From the thickets dim of the hidden way
Where the debts of Hell accrue,
The Lion leapeth upon his prey:
But the Lamb—He leapeth too.
Ah! loose the leash of the sins that damn,
Mark Devil and God as goals,
In the panting love of a famished Lamb,
Gone mad with the need of souls.
The Lion, he strayeth near and far;
What heights hath he left untrod?
He crawleth nigh to the purest star,
On the trail of the saints of God.
And throughout the darkness of things unclean,
In the depths where the sin-ghouls brood,
There prowleth ever with yearning mien—
A lamb as white as Blood!
HUGH AUSTIN
The Astronomers Prayer
Night. O Thou God! who rulest Heaven and earth,
The terraced atmospheres, the bounded seas;
Who knowest equally both death and birth,
Frail human men, strong divine mysteries,
Whose unencumbered thought sways all the spheres,
In all their turning, snake-like, perfect ways;
Now that the season of my labour nears,
Grant me an insight to Thy larger days!
To Thee all things create and unborn yield,
Being of Thee, the secret of their souls—
The traversed elements, the azure field
Whereo'er eternal each huge star-world rolls.
There is no tiny insect but does know
Itself within Thy Presence visual:
From us too swiftly years and seasons go,
To Thee all change is a thing gradual.
E'en as at nightfall, when the lights come in,
The moth attracted woos and meets her death,
So do I seek Thy light to wander in,
Though fearfully and with half-bated breath.
So do I seek all knowledge of Thy stars,
Which move in and without my vision's reach;
Maybe yet burning with internal wars,
Or shaking as this world with human speech.
Stars which perhaps ten thousand years ago
Waned and grew cold at Thy almighty word
Waft their light hitherward. I do not know—
Thy recreating voice I have not heard.
Maybe, e'en at this hour Thine accents shake
Some chaos into order, into life;
Perchance some great creation now doth break
Into new form beneath Thy wisdom's knife.
Ah, Lord! The night appals me. Give me strength
Within myself to search this planet's dome:
O Supreme Architect, give me at length
Some clearer knowledge of Thy spaceless home!
My spirit seethes within me; in the sky
Thy constellations shine; for me begin
My labours until night-time passes by—
And before dawn I must or fail or win.
The Moon
Cirqued with dim stars and delicate moonflowers,
Silent she moves among the silent hours—
Watching the spheres that glow with golden heat
Under her feet.
Then, when the sunrise tints the east with light,
She fades to westward, with the dreamy night
And all her starry train—in faint disguise
Of twilight skies.
To Yvonne
Such things have been, Yvonne; but you and I,
Can we touch lips again across the years?
Re-order what is past? Forget—or try
Not to remember what through mists of tears
Is still too memorable? Dare we two
Start both our lives again, as we were young
And happy, in such love as falls to few?
Nay, for our violins are all unstrung.
Yet it is well that memory should hold
Some few pale rose-leaves plucked in bygone days,
That still are sweet, despite those pains untold
Which throng the marges of life's winding ways.
Yea, these will stay when nearer things are gone;
I shall keep mine. Will you keep yours, Yvonne?