Hail, O my moon of beauty fair,O page of paradise laid bare;
O tablet of the unseen, wroughtWith light of splendour nobly brought;
This radiance of thine from raysOf God brings solace to weary days;
It grants life's gift to one who yearnsFor love and art that ever burns;
It grants delight to whom was sentLong sorrow through the night unspent;
Then send thy beam as guiding star,As thou wast guide to travellers far;
And spread love's light throughout the landThat strangers would invade and stand;
Reveal to us the secret of a worldThat long enslaved the minds impearled;
And open wide the unseen's gate,That solutions may illuminate;
What souls endure, and gardens whereThe flocks have grazed their pasture fair;
And pour thy light into the heartsThat thirst — perchance it quench their smarts;
Thou openedst thy door unto the guest —Didst thou not know who sought thy rest?
Their world grew narrow, cramped, confined,So through thy valleys they would wind;
They thought the path was paved and clear,Their fancy but a feeble sphere;
God's world is realms beyond the mind —Far from what mortal thought can find;
The secret of thy kinship highWith heaven — souls that wander by;
Alas, O moon of beauty bright,None equals thee in heaven's height;
Is he like thee, a guiding flame,And both of you a spring the same?
What harm if thou shouldst guide the heartThat lost its way, that strayed apart?
If love were false, a little breathWould quench it — nay, unto its death;
I fear their meddling, curious art —Thou'lt find no substitute, no part;
I fear their quarrel, bitter strife —Thou'lt be a feeble child in life;
Let me record my ecstasy,And live within thy shadowed lea;
I am a star within thy sky —Far from the setting sun am I;
I am a gleam from thy bright ray,Whose light directs the wanderer's way;
Guide, guide my heart — for I am oneA secret on the horizon;
Its meaning in this beam resides,Its melody in every tide.
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