 | Late songs |  |
21
COLONISTS
What new star now in the sky
Needs a starry colony
That our men flock forth in troops,
All our joys, our loves, our hopes?
Needs a starry colony
That our men flock forth in troops,
All our joys, our loves, our hopes?
Wise and brave and kind they go
Through the lonesome gate and low;
All our starry colonists
Through the rains and through the mists,
Through the lonesome gate and low;
All our starry colonists
Through the rains and through the mists,
To what glories may they fare,
To what floods of ambient air,
To what rivers, to what trees,
To what dreaming palaces?
To what floods of ambient air,
To what rivers, to what trees,
To what dreaming palaces?
Just beyond the gate may be
Leagues on leagues of crystal sea,
And high galleons, poop on poop,
Where they shall go climbing up.
Leagues on leagues of crystal sea,
And high galleons, poop on poop,
Where they shall go climbing up.
24
Twisted cordage of spun gold,
Sails of silk in fold on fold.
Like a flock of heavenly birds
Sails the squadron Paradise-wards.
Sails of silk in fold on fold.
Like a flock of heavenly birds
Sails the squadron Paradise-wards.
Spicéd winds have ta'en the sails.
Singing like the nightingales
The young souls go glad and gay,
All their faces turned one way.
Singing like the nightingales
The young souls go glad and gay,
All their faces turned one way.
Now the Great Adventure calls,
And they steal, with hushed footfalls,
For there's work awaits them yonder
In a starry world of wonder.
And they steal, with hushed footfalls,
For there's work awaits them yonder
In a starry world of wonder.
Young and fond and fair and brave,
What new planet now may crave
All these starry colonists
From the rains and from the mists?
What new planet now may crave
All these starry colonists
From the rains and from the mists?
| Late songs | |