Oracles

THE EARL’S QUEST I55 Of love—he rode with head deep bowed—too sweet, Too solemn at that moment to respond, Or even to lift his evening eyes to greet The one he knew was nearest—too, too fond ! He dared not—not for his sake but for hers. So he bent down, and passed away beyond In space, in time. [The myriad ministers Of God, seeing her soul, prayed God to send One spirit yet to turn him—subtly stirs The eternal glory of god’s mouth ; “ The end Is not, nor the beginning.” Such the speech Our language fashions down—to comprehend.] The wood broke suddenly upon the beach, Curved, flat ; the water oozing on the sand Stretched waveless out beyond where eye might reach, A grey and shapeless place, a hopeless land ! Yet in that vast, that weary sad expanse The Earl saw three strange objects on the strand His keen eye noted at the firstborn glance, And recognised as pointers for his soul ; So that his soul was fervid in the dance, Knowing itself one step more near the goal, Should he but make the perfect choice of these. Farthest, loose tethered, at a stake’s control,