Chapter II

Old man with the pale blue eyes,
Mild and clear!
Why, as thou dost fare,
With that pondering air
Into passing faces dost thou peer?
Why dost pause, where dim like autumn skies
Starry asters grow? Why gazest thou
O’er the round hill’s brow?

“Ah, from each gray-bearded face
Would I know
What that heart hath found;
And in youths that bound
See a youth who vanished long ago!
In each flower a memory can I trace;
O’er the hill the green, still place may be
That doth wait for me!”

A ROSE

Too-perfect Rose, thy heavy breath has power
To wake a dim, an unexplained regret:
Art body to the soul of some deep hour
That all my seasons have not yielded yet?

But if it be so--Hour, too-perfect Hour,
Ah, blow not full, though all the yearning days
Should tremble bud-like, since the wind must shower
Thine unreturning grace along the ways!

THE INN OF THE STAR

When the Old Year plods down
Toward the end of the hill,
Where the white little town
Lies asleep, wonder-still,
Then he mends his dull pace,
For a ray, streaming far,
Strikes a gleam on his face
From the Inn of the Star.

Then the staff is set by,
And the shoon from his feet,
And the burden let lie,
And he sitteth at meat;
Old jests round the board,
Old songs round the blaze,
While the faint bells accord
Like the souls of old days.

In the sweet bed of peace
He shall sleep for a night,
And faith, like a fleece,
Lap him kindly and light;
Then the wind, crooning wild,
Mystic music shall seem,
And the brow of the Child
Be a light through his dream.

And we, too, follow down
The long slope of the hill:
See, the white little town,
Where it shines, wonder-still!
Be our hopes quenched or bright,
Be our griefs what they are,
We shall sojourn a night
At the Inn of the Star.

POSIES

--_Is this ... the posy of a ring?_--HAMLET.

I

FRIENDSHIP

I were not worth you, could I long for you;
But should you come, you would find me ready.
The lamp is lighted, the flame is steady:
Over the strait I toss this song for you!

II

ROSE-RENT

Life! lordly giver and gay!
I, for this manor of Time,
Lightly and lovingly pay
Rent with the rose of a rhyme.