University of Virginia Library


105

A ROSARY OF THE STAR

I

In the Garden there is set a star
Over where the sleepers are,
Over where the lustrous olives hang;
And He sees it, looking up
From the drinking of that Cup.

II

At the column, lo, the star is gone,
For the eyes are beat upon
By wild rays that dance before and burn;
And He suffers in the daze,
Dreaming on God's ordered maze.

III

At the mocking while the soldiers stand,
Blindfold Him on either hand,
And the lovely hair with thorns enlock,
To His eyes the Saints are set
Close in starry coronet.

IV

With the Cross to Golgotha He goes;
Clear the star before Him shows,
Shining, resting on the skull-like mound,
And, beholding it, He saith
Gentle words and comforteth.

106

V

Now they nail Him to the Cross with words—
Darkness is above of clanging birds,
Birds of prey that clamour for His flesh;
And, between the wings, a space
Where a star shines in his place.