University of Virginia Library


203

IV. “ONE AGAINST MANY”

I saw as in a dream the stars arrayed
Against me,—endless legions surging nigh
From the blue depths of fathomless clear sky;
I saw their eyes flash through the golden shade.
I was afar from help and mortal aid;
My arm was weary and my lips were dry;
Through daylight I had fought, and seen them fly,
My foes,—but now new hosts the old outweighed.
And yet I stood and with most weary eyes
And weary hand and sword confronted them.
Then as I stood, defiant though alone,
The trumpet of a sudden wind was blown
And in a moment lo! the crowded skies
Were empty as seas no ships' keels ever stem.