Classic Poem

VI.

A lover's heart hath no repose;
'Tis ever thundering in his ear
The story of his joys and woes, —
The light remote, the shadow near.

And Leon, penning his fleecy stock,
Felt hope as painful as despair,
While one by one heaven's starry flock
Came up the fields of air.

True shepherd, — like the men of old, —
He knew to call each as it came;
And, as his flock leaped in the fold,
Each had a starry name.

There, clustered close in slumbrous peace,
He gazed on them with shepherd pride,
And saw each deep and pillowy fleece
Through Sylvia's soft hands glide.

In that still hour, where none might mark,
He leaned against the shadowy bars;
Soft tearlight blurred the deepening dark
And doubled all the stars.

And, starlike, through the valley dim
The tapers shot their guiding rays;
But one there was which seemed to him
To set the night ablaze.

To his impatient feet it flowed,
A stream of gold along the sod;
Then like the road to glory glowed
The love-lit path he trod!