102
Orion.
[Book III.
Rose thrilling on the air; and onward slow
Her car its voyage held, and waned more pale
And distant, as the prayer ascended heaven.
Her car its voyage held, and waned more pale
And distant, as the prayer ascended heaven.
"Eos! blest Goddess of the Morning, hear
The blind Orion praying on thy hill,
And in thine odorous breath his spirit steep,
That he, the soft gold of thy gleaming hand
Passing across his heavy lids, sealed down
With weight of many nights, and night-like days,
May feel as keenly as a new-horn child,
And, through it, learn as purely to behold
The face of nature. Oh restore my sight!"
The blind Orion praying on thy hill,
And in thine odorous breath his spirit steep,
That he, the soft gold of thy gleaming hand
Passing across his heavy lids, sealed down
With weight of many nights, and night-like days,
May feel as keenly as a new-horn child,
And, through it, learn as purely to behold
The face of nature. Oh restore my sight!"
His prayer paused tremulous. O'er his brow he felt
A balmy beam, that with its warmth conveyed
Divine suffusion and deep sense of peace
Throughout his being; and amidst a pile,
Far in the distance, gleaming like the bloom
Of almond trees seen through long floating halls
Of pale ethereal blue and virgin gold,
A Goddess, smiling like a new-blown flower,
Orion saw! And as he gazed he wept.
The tears ran mingling with the morning dews
Down his thick locks. At length once more he spake.
A balmy beam, that with its warmth conveyed
Divine suffusion and deep sense of peace
Throughout his being; and amidst a pile,
Far in the distance, gleaming like the bloom
Of almond trees seen through long floating halls
Of pale ethereal blue and virgin gold,
A Goddess, smiling like a new-blown flower,
Orion saw! And as he gazed he wept.
The tears ran mingling with the morning dews
Down his thick locks. At length once more he spake.
