Sunday 23 December 2012

The Lost Star by Maude Egerton King

From The Vineyard December 1910 (p.182).

Noel by Arthur Hughes
from The Vineyard, December 1910


"I was a shepherd, one of the three
Who first had news of the joy to be,
When all the silent night was riven
With glory out of the inmost heaven.

I too beheld the angelic choir
Leap forth like flames of altar fire:
I saw the vision, heard the song,
And vowed I'd follow the star along.

But homeward first I turned me back
To fill with meat and clothes my sack;
And when again I sought the star
It and my fellows both were afar.

I met another following late-
An old man, lagging 'neath the weight
Of learning won from every age,
And heavy wealth - half king, half sage.

Wisdom was frozen in his breath,
It turned my heart as cold as death:
It crowned with cares my simple head
And turned my flying feet to lead.

The Bright Midnight by Arthur Hughes
from The Vineyard, December 1910


Thro' all the hours I went with him
Our guiding stars looked far and dim,
Till, dull and faithless as a stone,
I bade him keep his path along.

The little wineshop, bright and loud,
Cried welcome as I wandered by.
I warmed my cold heart 'mid its crowd
And lost my pilot in the sky.

Once, thro' a window foul as sin
The Saviour-Star looked searching in;
I cried, "One moment's pleasure yet!"
And when I left my star had set.

And now, alas! in every street
Great praising, feasts crowds I meet;
They praise the Child, the simple Herds,
And e'en the King of the cold, wise word;

They tell me that my simple friends
Came first, there where the long road ends
In the World's Desire-ere one of all
Those wise crowned heads majestical!

They praise the Peace for which I pray,
And yet they cannot point the way-
O for some star in me or them
To guide me to my Bethlehem!"

The Vineyard,
December 1910



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