A city in its regal power;
Glowing and crescent, proud and free.
All this with hints of things aside,
The theatre of action wide;—
The sable smoke of border wars,
With hecatombs to stormy Mars—
The sudden sparkling in the sun
Of towns beginning and begun—
Cleaving of mountains and fierce air
Tossing the brown earth everywhere.
Glowing and crescent, proud and free.
All this with hints of things aside,
The theatre of action wide;—
The sable smoke of border wars,
With hecatombs to stormy Mars—
The sudden sparkling in the sun
Of towns beginning and begun—
Cleaving of mountains and fierce air
Tossing the brown earth everywhere.
Then from those wondrous eyes the fire
Went out; he saw the flame expire;—
Then pausing with a flush elate,
He lightly murmured, "I shall wait!"
And once again from wall to rafter
Echoed the gurgling elfish laughter.
But when he looked, the wise-eyed owl,
With whom his life was cheek by jowl,
There in the firelight's fitful play,
Sat bleakly staring, calm and gray.
Went out; he saw the flame expire;—
Then pausing with a flush elate,
He lightly murmured, "I shall wait!"
And once again from wall to rafter
Echoed the gurgling elfish laughter.
But when he looked, the wise-eyed owl,
With whom his life was cheek by jowl,
There in the firelight's fitful play,
Sat bleakly staring, calm and gray.
The Old Year's closed and finished book
Was shrined among the scrolls of Fame;
Splendid in robes of gold and azure,
And all untried in toil and pleasure,
The New Year to his empire came,
And from his diamond sceptre shook
An all resplendent virgin flame.
The dreamer, with an inward smile,
Looked over gorge and stump and tree,
Was shrined among the scrolls of Fame;
Splendid in robes of gold and azure,
And all untried in toil and pleasure,
The New Year to his empire came,
And from his diamond sceptre shook
An all resplendent virgin flame.
The dreamer, with an inward smile,
Looked over gorge and stump and tree,
