Classic Poem

A VISION OF ANGELS

Then there appeared with robe and crown
A host in heavenly guise,
As all the angels had come down
From Dante's Paradise;
The thought of some Italian town
Gave glory to their eyes.

The sunset pierced them through with gold
And many-colored fire,
Till they as beautifully were stoled
As Fra Beato's choir:
A cloud of witnesses of old
Called mortals to aspire.

And while I wondered at the sight
I heard a soft ado
That, as though chanted by the light,
To this clear anthem grew;
" Fight ye for Freedom and for Right,
But fight for Beauty, too. "

And as they sang this high command
In evening's growing shade,
The Eastward pointing of each hand
A myriad gesture made;
I turned, to see the skyey land
Was all in rose arrayed.

The Alps, the clouds, the near lagoon,
Prolonged the heavenly scene,
And the last breath of afternoon
Lit up the brown lateen,
Where lay, impatient for the moon,
The Adriatic's Queen.