University of Virginia Library

Behold in Star-Land stood a vacant throne,
None found to fill it! On a lonely height
Raised up, the world commanding, he beheld,
Who reign'd thereon, the plane of time and change
Far reach below him. Passion and anguish there
Play parts, but the illuminated soul
From such great height—with steadfast eyes unmoved—
In silence watch'd, the issues and the end
To him reveal'd, the worth and meaning known.
Thus was it; but to distant heights undream'd
The abstracted soul forth-issuing left below
Its ancient seat; and he, with anxious mind,
Who o'er those spheres spreads wide his sacred rule,
The Great Star-King, most solemn council held
With messengers and heralds from afar.
But not from out his own divine estate,
Nor realms beyond, was suppliant known whose eyes
Unflinching view'd the vast and varied charge,
The lonely life, the splendour, view'd unchill'd . . .
Behold in Star-Land stood that vacant throne
None found to fill it!

Then the Central Sun,
Intelligence Supreme, Eternity's
Tremendous King, by angels bright at length
Sent tidings down to Star-Land, and the Great
Star-King rose joyful from his throne sublime;
Long prayer was answer'd—found a soul unstain'd
To fill that empty seat! It dwelt on earth
Not all unconscious of its destiny,
But, dedicate to ministries most high,
In hopes—though half defined—in yearnings vague
By sacred impulse prompted aye to seek
The Source of Light, at least to gifted eyes
Made evident its origin divine—
Thy shining soul, my white one, my dear, my dove! . . .
The Star-King paused at hearing, mused a space,
Then pass'd in silence through his lonely hall,
Its pavement vast as ocean, and its dome
As heaven remote. Upon the gleaming wall
Of that most awful temple there was hung
A Magic Glass; invoking power of will
Constrain'd all souls to manifest within
Its lucent crystal. There he fix'd awhile
His eyes illuminated, clear, profound,
And soon a thin flame started, light and pure,
In brilliance, beauty waxing, till thy self
In semblance perfect shone reflected there.
The Mighty Presence that inform'd the place
Breathed once thereon, then answer'd:—“It is well!
His phantom shews no blemish.”

There was now
The hour of earthly sunset: sank day's god.
A stealthy, secret whisper of the wind
Among the leaves and grass had call'd me forth,
And I went musing into meads and down
Dark cypress groves. Therein my thoughts were wrapp'd
Beyond the sphere of time. One Voice of Brightness,
When this creation's furthest star was pass'd,
Still call'd me onward, through unnumber'd ranks
Of radiant intelligences, priests
And princes of eternity; I paused
Before that veil which hides the Holy Place—
The light unbearable in mercy hides.
This veil was moved by agency within;
A stream of flame and scorching heat intense
Was pour'd in shafts upon me, and my soul—
Beneath it—shrivell'd like an autumn leaf,
Till one word sounding in the light made strong
My failing nature by its power divine.
Thy destiny surpassing strange, supreme,
Thy star ascending in the house of life,
With light and glory through the infinite,
That mystic word impress'd on heart and mind.
It lives in sense of mission and of high
Election, but the awful sound is lost;
For flesh-confined intelligence no more
May dare to formulate, nor human speech
Express it, nor this element too gross
Of earthly air to that most subtle sound
Give life in its vibrations. But in dreams
It searches still, and still by dreams my soul
Is lifted into Star-Land; there I see
Thy vacant throne await thee on that height
Remote and unimagined—thine, pure gift
Of earth to Æther!

Like the hand of God
About the man it leads in spite of self,
The sense of mission circles all my life;
A herald of the stern, primeval, strong
Star-King, I gather for thy crowning day
All gentle souls together, all pure souls,
The silent spaces round thy lonely throne
To people with intelligence and love. . . .
Behold, my thought that chosen band depicts
Above the world exalted, vow'd to thee!
My spirit in eternity's most vast,
God-haunted regions loses life and thought
And sinks in dizzy circles, while thine own
There finds its eyrie, there its native air,
Translucent, tranquil. Mount, mine eagle, mount!
Thy light supreme, thy lone, uplifted state,
I see reveal'd; infinity receives
A starry prince—ascend, achieve and reign!