THE RED STAR. 
37 
I came from very far 
Led by that strange red star 
At noon that fadeth now 
Dim on the snow-crowned brow 
Of royal Caucasus, 
A mystical portent 
Of some obscure event 
Darkly miraculous 
Written below the West 
In Fate’s dark palimpsest ; 
Obscure — the sun to eclipse ! 
 
 
I fed my flaming lips  
Upon the limbs of slaves,  
Great Nubian girls that bled  
Upon the sands — so laves  
The sun his fire in cloud  
When the sea glows glassy red  
At the buffet of the wind  
On its cheek all wrinkle-lined. 
Ah !  thou Lord God !  thus thrice 
I made thy sacrifice. 
 
 
Still thou art dumb,  
Though I am duly come