Poems (Scudder)/Saint Nereid
SAINT NEREID
An ancient legend of the Church doth tell
Of how a hermit living in the wood
Baptized a Satyr that the monster should
Receive a soul, thereby the twain did dwell
A many years within their forest cell
Till both were reverenced as saints. I would
There were another story of such good
And blessing that upon a mermaid fell.
Saint Nereid—to wear a halo dim
Of silver wavy-patterned, robes of pale
Azure and violet and beryl-green,
To wait, a handmaid, moony-haired and slim,
In service of the one whom seamen hail
As "Stella Maris," ocean's holy Queen.
Of how a hermit living in the wood
Baptized a Satyr that the monster should
Receive a soul, thereby the twain did dwell
A many years within their forest cell
Till both were reverenced as saints. I would
There were another story of such good
And blessing that upon a mermaid fell.
Saint Nereid—to wear a halo dim
Of silver wavy-patterned, robes of pale
Azure and violet and beryl-green,
To wait, a handmaid, moony-haired and slim,
In service of the one whom seamen hail
As "Stella Maris," ocean's holy Queen.