he sun,
Supported by a slender cross of pine,
His staff; and when the evening star arose
O'er Asia, a brief time he stood and gazed,
Then sought his melancholy cave and prayed.
And who, in this sad place, was this old man?
Who, in this island, where the robber scowled,
Was this old man, exiled and destitute--
Old, but so reverenced, the murderer passed 40
His rocky dwelling, and bade peace to it?
'Twas he who leaned upon our Saviour's breast
At the last supper; he to whom the Lord,
Looking upon his countenance of youth,
His calm, clear forehead, and his clustering hair,
Said, What if he shall tarry till I come!
Long years--and many sorrows marked these years--
Had passed since this was said; and now that face
Was furrowed o'er with age; and weariness
And exile, in the last lone days of life, 50
Were now his lot; for they whom he had loved--
They, the disciples of "Him crucified"--
Professing one warm faith, one glorious hope,
Were all, in the same faith and the same hope,
Laid down in peace, after their pilgrimage,
Where the world ceased from troubling.
He alone
Lingered when all were dead, with fervent prayer
Soon in the bosom of his Lord to rest.
And now he comes forth from his rocky cave 60
To gaze a while upon the silent sea,
In the calm eventide of the Lord's day;
To think on Him he loved, and of that voice
Once heard on earth: so, pondering, on his staff,
The old man watched another sun go down
Beyond the Cape of Tenos.[116] The still sea
Slept, in the light of eve, beneath his feet,
And often, as in very gentleness,
It seemed to touch his sandals, and retire.
And now the last limb of the sinking orb 70
Is hid, yet far away the cloudy track
Reddens with its departing glory.
Hark! 73
A voice, and, lo! seven "golden candlesticks,"[117]
The "Angels of the Churches" upon earth,
"Seven golden candlesticks," and He, the Lord,
Among them, like unto that Son of God
Who radiant on the mount of vision[118] stood,
Now recognised the same, in the same shape.
His hair was white as snow; his eyes were flame; 80
His voice, the sound of waters; in his hand-