Classic Poem

I.

A prophet sat by the Temple gate,
And he spake each passer by —
In thrilling tone — with word of weight,
And fire in his rolling eye.
" Pause thee, believing Jew!
Nor move one step beyond,
Until thy heart hath ponder'd
The mystery of this wand. "
And a rod from his robe he drew —
'Twas a withered bough torn long ago
From the trunk on which it grew,
But the branch long torn show'd a bud new born
That had blossomed there snew.
'Twas J ESSE'S rod!
And the bud was the birth of God .

II.

A priest of Egypt sat meanwhile
Under a lofty palm,
And gazing on his native Nile,
As in a mirror calm,
He saw a lowly Lotus plant —
Pale orphan of the flood.
And well did th' aged hierophant
Mark the mysterious bud;
For he fitly thought, as he saw it float
O'er the waste of waters wild,
That the symbol told of the cradle boat
Of the wondrous Hebrew child.
Nor was that bark-like Lotus dumb
Of a mightier infant yet to come,
Whose graven skiff in hieroglyph
Marks obelisk and catacomb.

III.

A Greek sat on Colonna's cape,
In his lofty thoughts alone,
And a volume lay on Plato's lap,
For he was that lonely one.
And oft as the sage gazed o'er the page
His forehead radiant grew;
For in Wisdom's womb of the Word to come,
The vision blest his view.
He broached that theme in the Academe,
In the teachful olive grove;
And a chosen few that secret knew
In the Porch's dim alcove.

IV.

A Sybil sat in Cumae's cave —
'Twas the hour of infant Rome —
And vigil kept, and warning gave
Of the holy one to come.
'Twas she who had cuiied the hallowed branch,
And sat at the silent helm
When Æneas, sire of Rome, would launch
His bark o'er Hades' realm.
And now she poured her vestal soul
Through many a bright illumined scroll;
By priest and sage of an after-age
Conned in the lofty capitol.

V.

A Druid stood in the dark oak wood
Of a distant northern land;
And he seemed to hold a sickle of gold
In the grasp of his withered hand;
And slowly moved around the girth;
Of an aged oak, to see
If a blessed plant of wondrous birth
Had clung to the old oak tree.
And anon he knelt, and from his belt
Unloosened his golden blade,
Then rose and culled M ISTLETOE
Under the woodland shade.

VI.

O, blessed bough! meet emblem thou
Of all dark Egypt knew,
Of all foretold to the wise of old,
To Roman, Greek, and Jew.
And long God grant, time-honoured plant,
May we behold thee hung
In cottage small, as in baron's hall,
Banner and shield among,
Thus fitly rule the mirth of Yule
Aloft in thy place of pride;
Still usher forth in each land of the north
The solemn Christmas tide.