As of a star concealed from sight
By some thin veil of fleecy white,
Or of the rising moon behind the rainy vapors of the night.
The sisterhood that was so sweet--
The Starry System sphered complete,
Which the mazed Orient used to greet--
The Four-and-Thirty fallen stars glimmer and glitter at her feet.
And lo! the children which she bred,
And more than all else cherished,
To make them strong in heart and head,
Stand face to face as mortal foes, with their swords crossed above the dead!
Each hath a mighty stroke and stride,
And one is Mother-true and tried,
The other dark and evil-eyed;
And by the hand of one of them his own dear Mother surely died!
A stealthy step — a gleam of hell--
It is the simple truth to tell--
The Son stabbed, and the Mother fell;
And so she lies — all mute, and pale, and pure, and irreproachable.
And then the battle-trumpet blew,
And the true Brother sprang, and drew
His blade to smite the traitor through;
And so they clashed above the bier, and the Night sweated bloody dew!
Now, whichsoever stand or fall,
As God is great and man is small,
The Truth shall triumph over all--
Forever and forevermore the Truth shall triumph over all!”
Thus saith the Keeper of the Key,
And the Great Seal of Destiny,
Whose eye is the blue canopy;
And leaves his firmament of Peace and Silence over bond and free.
New Albany, January, 1862.
--Louisville Journal.
