<h2><SPAN name="page124"></SPAN><span class="pagenum"></span>SIRIUS</h2>
<blockquote><p>‘<i>Since Sinus crossed the Milky Way</i>,
<i>sixty thousand years have gone</i>.’—<span class="smcap">Garrett</span> P. <span class="smcap">Serviss</span>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p class="poetry">Since Sirius crossed the Milky Way<br/>
Full sixty thousand years have gone,<br/>
Yet hour by hour, and day by day,<br/>
This tireless star speeds on and on.</p>
<p class="poetry">Methinks he must be moved to mirth<br/>
By that droll tale of Genesis,<br/>
Which says creation had its birth<br/>
For such a puny world as this.</p>
<p class="poetry">To hear how One who fashioned all<br/>
Those Solar Systems, tier on tiers,<br/>
Expressed in little Adam’s fall<br/>
The purpose of a million spheres.</p>
<p class="poetry"><SPAN name="page125"></SPAN><span class="pagenum">p.
125</span>And, witness of the endless plan,<br/>
To splendid wrath he must be wrought<br/>
By pigmy creeds presumptuous man<br/>
Sends forth as God’s primeval thought.</p>
<p class="poetry">Perchance from half a hundred stars<br/>
He hears as many curious things;<br/>
From Venus, Jupiter and Mars,<br/>
And Saturn with the beauteous rings,</p>
<p class="poetry">There may be students of the Cause<br/>
Who send their revelations out,<br/>
And formulate their codes of laws,<br/>
With heavens for faith and hells for doubt.</p>
<p class="poetry">On planets old ere form or place<br/>
Was lent to earth, may dwell—who
knows—<br/>
A God-like and perfected race<br/>
That hails great Sirius as he goes.</p>
<p class="poetry">In zones that circle moon and sun,<br/>
’Twixt world and world, he may see souls<br/>
Whose span of earthly life is done,<br/>
Still journeying up to higher goals.</p>
<p class="poetry"><SPAN name="page126"></SPAN><span class="pagenum">p.
126</span>And on dead planets grey and cold<br/>
Grim spectral souls, that harboured hate<br/>
Life after life, he may behold<br/>
Descending to a darker fate.</p>
<p class="poetry">And on his grand majestic course<br/>
He may have caught one glorious sight<br/>
Of that vast shining central Source<br/>
From which proceeds all Life, all Light.</p>
<p class="poetry">Since Sirius crossed the Milky Way<br/>
Full sixty thousand years have gone,<br/>
No mortal man may bid him stay,<br/>
No mortal man may speed him on.</p>
<p class="poetry">No mortal mind may comprehend<br/>
What is beyond, what was before;<br/>
To God be glory without end,<br/>
Let man be humble and adore.</p>
<h2><SPAN name="page127"></SPAN><span class="pagenum"></span>AT FONTAINEBLEAU</h2>
<p class="poetry">At Fontainebleau, I saw a little bed<br/>
Fashioned of polished wood, with gold ornate,<br/>
Ambition, hope, and sorrow, ay, and hate<br/>
Once battled there, above a childish head,<br/>
And there in vain, grief wept, and memory plead<br/>
It was so small! but Ah, dear God, how great<br/>
The part it played in one sad woman’s fate.<br/>
How wide the gloom, that narrow object shed.</p>
<p class="poetry">The symbol of an over-reaching aim,<br/>
The emblem of a devastated joy,<br/>
It spoke of glory, and a blasted
home:<br/>
Of fleeting honours, and disordered fame,<br/>
And the lone passing of a fragile boy.</p>
<p style="text-align: center" class="poetry">* * * * *</p>
<p class="poetry">It was the cradle of the King of Rome.</p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.