THE FIRST FIRE
O virgin hearth, as chaste and cold
As one who waits for burial mould,
Whom shall we summon here to keep
Watch while thou wakest from thy sleep?
As one who waits for burial mould,
Whom shall we summon here to keep
Watch while thou wakest from thy sleep?
Not from the far sky spaces, blue
As those that Zeus and Hera knew,
May Hestia wing her airy flight,
Bringer of holy warmth and light.
As those that Zeus and Hera knew,
May Hestia wing her airy flight,
Bringer of holy warmth and light.
Pan may not come. By stream and shore
Fair Naiads dry their locks no more;
No Oread dwells in mount and glen;
No Dryad flees from gods or men.
Fair Naiads dry their locks no more;
No Oread dwells in mount and glen;
No Dryad flees from gods or men.
Yet still do forest voices clear
Greet him whose soul hath ears to hear;
The murmur of the rustling pine
Is sweet as Hermes's harp divine.
Greet him whose soul hath ears to hear;
The murmur of the rustling pine
Is sweet as Hermes's harp divine.
The winds that rend the mighty oak
Clash loud as Ares's battle stroke;
The maples toss each leafy crown
Though Dian's votive wreaths are brown.
Clash loud as Ares's battle stroke;
The maples toss each leafy crown
Though Dian's votive wreaths are brown.
Here, as to sacrificial pyre
Kindled with pure celestial fire,
Kindled with pure celestial fire,
