I.
Four Pilgrims set forth at morning light to reach before evening the Golden City
Four Pilgrims rose before the dawn
To reach, ere close of day,
A royal town, whose turrets rose
Ten weary leagues away.
They grasped their staves, and firmly bound
Their dusty sandals on,
And started forth ere up the East
The ruddy day-spring shone.
They knew the gates were shut at eve
On all who were without;
That savage beasts through all the night
Prowled sullenly about;
That many a laggard pilgrim's bones
Were bleaching on the plain,—
And fast they strode along the road,
That happy hold to gain.
O who shall first behold the hill
Those golden turrets crown?
O who is he who first may see
The marble-templed town?
