VIGIL by ALBERT SAMAIN

TO muse. In the void of night to thrill like the rushes! ...
To be as a flame, pure, subtle, and quick with light;
And, breathing the air of the hovering Thought angelic,
Beware, as a God's, of our mortal brows grown bright.
To spur heroic blood into noble action;
To spurn ignoble gauds, and the tinsel snare;
To put on pride as a coat of shining armour,
And leap from earth to the threshold of endless air!

To feel within, like a stream of the sea down-pouring,
The singing tide of the universal soul,
To hear in the heart the wings of the great archangels
Beating as Ocean beats on a hidden shoal;
To see like Solomon, girt with a royal splendour,
In pomp of gold, and perfume, and precious stones,
A life's long task bear down like the Queen of Sheba,
To greet us set like Kings on our royal thrones!

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