Ebony and Crystal/The Land of Evil Stars
THE LAND OF EVIL STARS
'Neath blue days, and gold, and green,Blooms the glorious land serene,—Flaming shields of dawns between;And the rapt white flowers sufficeTo illumeWith their bright eyesFluctuant ecstatic gloom'Twixt the fallen emerald sun,And the unrisen azure one.
But the season of the nightComes in all the suns' despite;And, ah, gorgeous then their sorrows,At departure into morrowsOf far, other lands forgot—Until now remembered not,For the lovelier flow'rs of this,And each lake's pure lucency;And recalled regretfully,Regretfully, for leaving THIS.
In the star-possessèd nightThe land knows another light—All the small and evil raysOf the sorcerous orbs ablazeWith ecstatical, intenseHate and still malevolence—Dwelling on the fields belowFrom the ascendancy of even,Till the suns, re-entering heaven,Glorify with triple glowThe dim flowers smitten low.
Ah, not cold, or kind, as ours, The stars of those remotest hours!Peace and pallor of the flow'rsThey have fevered, they have marred,With the poison of their light,With distilled bale and blightOf a red, accursed regard:All the toil of sunlight hoursThey undoWith their wild eyes—Eldritch and ecstatic eyes,Stooping timeward from the skies,Burning redly in the dew.