 | The Poetical Works of (Richard Monckton Milnes) Lord Houghton |  |
41
GRECIAN SUNSET.
[_]
The modern Greek phrase for the setting of the sun is “Βασιλευει ο ηλιος,” “the sun reigns,” or “the sun is a king.” One interpretation of this expression was given me, viz., that in the vesper anthem beginning with the words, “‘Ο Κυριος Βασιλευει,” “the Lord reigns,” the action was transferred to the sun itself, in the same feeling as the “Ave Maria” is the synonym of the close of an Italian day. Another explanation I have formed into the following lines.
At morn, as one who girds himself for speed,
A Hero prompt to do a mighty deed,
And not to rest until the deed be done,
He rose:—at noon he wore the guise of one,
Who feels the purpose that his will decreed
Half-perfect, and goes onward to his meed,
Stronger than were his labour just begun;
And now his aim attained, his triumph known,
In conscious dignity he mounts his throne
Of golden air, and ere the eve can spread
Her pale-rose veil above his royal head,
No courtier clouds around him, to the bed
Of a victorious rest, he passes all alone.
| The Poetical Works of (Richard Monckton Milnes) Lord Houghton | |