The White Shield by Myrtle Reed
MorningBY MYRTLE REED
The magic East lies in enchanted shadow-- A Titan dreaming fitfully of day, The ghostly mists are deep upon the meadow Outlined against the hillside faintly grey; The portent of the dawn has strangely swayed The silver birches, trembling and afraid. Too long the hosts of Dark have held the plain, The King of Night at last must end his reign; With rapturous accord doth earth acclaim The tidings of new life for heart and brain, Behold the night hath passed away in flame!
Sea-born and strong, the winds begin to blow Against the cliffs, the billows break in spray; Returning waters meet and overflow-- White-plumed battalions marshalled for the fray; Upon the beach the foaming cavalcade Beats yet once more with rhythmic cannonade. Afar the boundless reaches of the main Show lines of white that fall and rise again, A morning song the sea's lips soon shall frame, Insistent and with passionate refrain, Behold the night hath passed away in flame! Athwart the sombre East there comes a glow-- A thrill, a tremble, then a slender ray, A single arrow from the sun-god's bow Strikes on the zenith like a star astray; Swiftly does the light of Venus fade, Her gentle radiance for the night was made. The distant hills take on a crimson stain From fire-poppies set in golden grain That wrought of light puts harvest fields to shame; Through feathery clouds there creeps a scarlet vein, Behold the night hath passed away in flame!
The ramparts of the sunrise glorious grow, Of what lost rubies builded, none may say, What diamonds snatched from sunbeams or from snow-- What emeralds and violets lost by May In those far off celestial walls are laid! Imperial columns of jacinth and of jade, Like dreamer's castles built in sunny Spain, Before these jewelled entrances are lain; Forgotten springs may summer now reclaim And visions of the autumn yet remain, Behold the night hath passed away in flame! Reflected splendour on the sea below Hath blazoned through the waves a royal way-- A path of glory such as angels know, That leads the wondering soul to kneel and pray. Stray threads of sun are shining in the glade, Where dews of morning sparkle in the shade The pearly webs an alien beauty gain; High in the maple, down the leafy lane, A robin's song with neither words nor name Falls in a cadence like a silver rain, Behold the night hath passed away in flame!
L'Envoi
"Let there be light!" the angels now ordain, For links of morning, distant seas enchain, Into the waiting heart new courage came, And from the deep there rose a siren strain-- Behold the night hath passed away in flame!
The White Shield