Classic Poem

A CURAIE in a lonely hamlet preaching,
Nor heard beyond,
Until with rumours of his saintly teaching
Echoes respond,
And then into a broader field translated
With ampler fold,
As soldiers are to higher grades elated
For actions bold—
Cries, when he hears assembled hundreds voicing
Responsive prayer,
Hosanna! in yet bolder strains rejoicing
The distant air
So thou, in humbler days, didst hymn a wailing
For Claribel,
Which on the outer world like unavailing
Entreaty fell;
But friends around thee shared thy tuneful weeping,
And treasured long
The memory of that hapless maiden sleeping
Within thy song.
I see thee now in Art's great temple throning,
A Hierophant,
And hear glad voices from far peaks intoning
Thy larger chant.