The Equinox (Volume I, Number X)

172 THE EQUINOX Hail! on the altar of the awakening day ; Hail! in the temple of the night outworn By the vigils of the gods! Soft, secret Rose, I bear upon my breast the golden sign ; I wear thee on my breast, and I am thine— Light as the summer oak-leaves, gold as the god On the shimmering sea calling the winds to rest. Light, light be the earth upon thee, and below, Breath of the world unborn, long wave of song! Hail unto thee, and hail unto the star That bore thee! Hail! and hail! and hail! and hail Hail! For the word is spoken, and the light Is fallen, and the Rose is mine, is mine! The Rose is mine! O Rose! O secret Rose! XVI THE SILVER CRESCENT In the little cleft of the rocks whence life first sprang To birth, by the secret, shadowy, molten sea, Where Aphrodite sprang to greet the sun, Low voices murmur: shadowy Underworld In the void of time, light song of Erebus On the lips of a courtesan of Rome, ah! list! A wandering singer caught the light o’ the stars On his lips, and the sun-dawn of the world in his heart. For I that dwelt within the city of Time Was lost in a cloudy dawn; the silken veil Of dew that clothed the green grass of the fields