It is as though some babe, that loveth hues
Gay as a tincture here may be,
Took the strong noon unto the early dews
And fashioned wisdom fair and faithfully;
Lo, how above their gemmy vesture glances
The august look of steadfast countenances.
Like the pearled flower that opens on the prime,
Like a high city seen from far
Through leagues of virgin air, so they through time,
Pensively as through even looks the star,
Remote and wan: and every shining tress
Lieth in grave and ordered loveliness.
The entrailéd thorn, the dolphin and the pard,
The rose and royal unicorn,
Life and his labour, valour and his reward,
Plain in the venerable page are borne:
But that fair aspect most delighteth; when
Man may not see that innocence again.
1918.