Poems (Hardy)/The shepherd's mountain
THE SHEPHERD'S MOUNTAIN
J.K.M.
Forbid me not, O friend, in birthday words of praise
To speak in allegory thus of you,
With this excuse,—to wish you joy and length of days.
To speak in allegory thus of you,
With this excuse,—to wish you joy and length of days.
There dwelt a shepherd, once, beside the sea,
And much, they said, of books and men he knew;
But all his wisdom fragrance had of wood
Or field or mountain; words of his could be
Poetic with the waving of a flowering tree,
Or strong and serious like the bitter-good
Of herb medicinal; or they could move
With the majestic motion of a cloud, to prove
Majestic truths; but oft in parable they burned
With mountain images sublime, aglow
With light that always is; and oft they turned
To holy solitudes upon the heights, to show
That men might learn, like him, to go
Where they could meet with God, and know.
And now his words, men thought, of Shasta seemed,
And now with some Imperial Mountain gleamed,
Whereof he knew the secret places best
That give the souls of men supremest rest.
And much, they said, of books and men he knew;
But all his wisdom fragrance had of wood
Or field or mountain; words of his could be
Poetic with the waving of a flowering tree,
Or strong and serious like the bitter-good
Of herb medicinal; or they could move
With the majestic motion of a cloud, to prove
Majestic truths; but oft in parable they burned
With mountain images sublime, aglow
With light that always is; and oft they turned
To holy solitudes upon the heights, to show
That men might learn, like him, to go
Where they could meet with God, and know.
And now his words, men thought, of Shasta seemed,
And now with some Imperial Mountain gleamed,
Whereof he knew the secret places best
That give the souls of men supremest rest.