But what if on some fair, auspicious night,
Like that on which the shepherds watched of old,
Down from far skies, in burning splendor rolled,
Shall stream the radiance of a star more bright
Than ever yet hath shone on mortal sight—
Swift shafts of light, like javelins of gold,
Wave after wave of glory manifold,
From zone to zenith flooding all the height?
And what if, moved by some strange inner sense,
Some instinct, than pure reason wiser far,
Some swift clairvoyance that annulleth space,
All men shall cry, with sudden joy intense,
“Behold, behold this new resplendent star—
Our heaven at last revealed!—the Place! the Place!”