Her Star.

When the heavens throb and vibrate     All along their silver veins,     To the mellow storm of music     Sweeping o'er the starry trains,     Heard by few, as erst by shepherds     On the far Chaldean plains:     Not the blazing, torch-like planets,     Not the Pleiads wild and free,     Not Arcturus, Mars, Uranus,     Bring the brightest dreams to me;     But I gaze in rapt devotion     On the central star of three.     Central star of three that tingle     In the balmy southern sky;     One above, and one below it,     Dreamily they pale and die,     As two lesser minds might dwindle,     When some great soul, passing by,     Stops, and reads their cherished secrets,     With a calm and godlike air,     Luring all their radiance from them     Leaving a dim twilight there,     Something vague, and half unreal,     Like the Alpha of despair.     Gazing thus, and holding converse     With the silence of my heart,     I would speak with famed Orion,     I would question it apart,     Wrest her love's strange secret from it,     If there's strength in human art.     And there come to me sweet whispers,     Half in answer, half in thought: -     "Be but strong, impassioned mortal!     Love will come to thee unsought;     Love is the divine Irene, -     It is given, and not bought.     [Transcriber's note: In the original book,     the e's in the "Irene" in the above verse     were e-macrons, Unicode U+0113.]     Strong of heart.    Be wise, be steadfast,     Learn, endeavour, and endure;     Blest with strength and light, in wisdom     Make the higher purpose sure;     Never can her heart receive thee     Till thine own is rendered pure.     I but shone in truth above her;     Psyche-like, she yearned to me,     And her soul, an Aphrodite,     Rose above the ether sea.     Love.    Love should and will inherit     The divine Euphrosyne."     When at night, the gleaming heavens     Throb through all their starry veins,     Oft I ponder on Orion,     And I hear celestial strains     Passing through my soul, and flooding     All its green immortal plains.     Then I pray for strength Promethean,     Pray for power to endure;     Then I say, O soul, be steadfast!     Make the lofty purpose sure;     And that love may be all-worthy,     God of heaven, make me pure!