Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FOR THE FEAST OF ST. GENEVIEVE AND JOAN OF ARC, SELECTION, by CHARLES PEGUY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FOR THE FEAST OF ST. GENEVIEVE AND JOAN OF ARC, SELECTION, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: As once she tended the sheep in nanterre
Last Line: The wisest flock to the father's right hand.
Subject(s): Feasts; Paris, France; Shepherds & Shepherdesses


As once she tended the sheep in Nanterre,
She has been set to keep another herd,
Where wolf and lamb have been together spurred
To merge in one great host their one despair.

And as she watched through lonely evenings there,
Where orchard leaves or water faintly stirred,
Beneath that willow branch, that self-same bird,
Today she watches this stony monster's blare.

And when The Evening draws the blinds of day
'Tis she, the tired, olden, shepherdess,
Who, gathering Paris and the neighbor-land

Will with firm pace and gentle guidance press
For the last time, on the last courtyard way,
The greatest flock to the Father's right hand.

January 4, 1913

As once she tended the sheep in Nanterre,
And all were pleased with her wise modesty,
The most restless herd, most set in obstinacy,
Now walk beneath her crook and safely fare.

And as before the church she used to stare
Into the dusk and dark there used to be,
Over the host of this phalanstery
Today she watches, though they do not care.

And when The Evening comes in golden dress
'Tis she, the wise, the olden shepherdess,
Who, gathering Paris in her tenderness

Will with firm peace and gentle guidance press,
In the court where justice and sweet mercy stand,
The wisest flock to the Father's right hand.





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