For many weeks about my loins I wore
The

rope that haled the buckets from the well,
Twisted as tight as I could knot the noose;
And spake not of it to a single soul,
Until the ulcer, eating through my skin,
Betrayed my secret penance, so that all
My brethren marvelled greatly. More than this
I bore, whereof, oh God, thou knowest all.

Three winters, that my soul might grow to thee, I lived up there on yonder mountain side. My right leg chained into the crag, I lay Pent in a roofless close of ragged stones; Inswathed sometimes in wandering mist, and twice Blacked with thy branding thunder, and sometimes Sucking the damps for drink, and eating not, Except the spare chance-gift of those that came To touch my body and be healed, and live: And they say then that I worked miracles, Whereof my fame is loud amongst mankind, Cured lameness, palsies, cancers. Thou, oh God, Knowest alone whether this was or no. Have

mercy, mercy; cover all my sin !
Then, that I might be more alone with thee,
Three years I lived upon a pillar high
Six cubits, and three years on one of twelve;
And twice three years I crouched on one that rose
Twenty by measure; last of all, I grew
Twice ten long weary, weary years to this,
That numbers forty cubits from the soil.

I think that I have borne as much as this-
Or else I dream—and for so long a time,
If I

may measure time by yon slow light,
And this high dial, which my sorrow crowns-
So much--

And yet I know not well, For that the evil ones come here, and say, "Fall down, oh Simeon: thou hast suffered long For

ages and for ages !” Then they prate Of penances I cannot have gone through,

--even so.

Perplexing me with lies; and oft I fall,
Maybe for months, in such blind lethargies,
That Heaven, and Earth, and Time are choked.

But yet

Bethink thee, Lord, while thou and all the saints
Enjoy themselves in heaven, and men on earth
House in the shade of comfortable roofs,
Sit with their wives by fires, eat wholesome food,
And wear warm clothes, and even beasts have stalls,
I, 'tween the spring and downfall of the light,
Bow down one thousand and two hundred times,
To Christ, the Virgin Mother, and the Saints;
Or in the night, after a little sleep,
I wake: the chill stars sparkle ; I am wet
With drenching dews, or stiff

' with crackling frost.
I wear an undressed goatskin on my back ;
A grazing iron collar grinds my neck;
And in my weak, lean arms I lift the cross,
And strive and wrestle with thee till I die:
O mercy, mercy! wash away my sin !

O Lord, thou knowest what a man I am; A sinful man, conceived and born in sin; 'Tis their own doing; this is none of mine; Lay it not to me. Am I to blame for this, That here come those that worship me ? Ha! ha! They think that I am somewhat. What am I? The silly people take me for a saint, And bring me offerings of fruit and flowers ; And I, in truth (thou wilt bear witness here) Have all in all endured as much, and more Than many just and holy men, whose names Are registered and calendered for saints.

Good people, you do ill to kneel to me. What is it I can have done to merit this ? I am a sinner viler than

you

all. It

may be I have wrought some miracles, And cured some halt and maimed; but what of that? It may be, no one, even among the saints, May match his pains with mine; but what of that?

any of

Yet do not rise : for you may look on me,
And in your looking you may kneel to God.
Speak! is there

you

halt or naimed ? I think you know I have some power with Heaven From my long penance : let him speak his wish.

Yes, I can heal him. Power goes forth from me. They say that they are healed. Ah, hark! they

shout “ St. Simeon Stylites.” Why, if so, God reaps a harvest in me. O my soul, God reaps a harvest in thee. If this be, Can I work miracles and not be saved ? This is not told of any. They were saints. It cannot be but that I shall be saved ; Yea, crowned a saint. They shout, “Behold a

saint !” And lower voices saint me from above. Courage, St. Simeon! This dull chrysalis Cracks into shining wings, and hope ere death Spreads more and more and more, that God hath

now

Sponged and made blank of crimeful record all
My mortal archives.

O my sons, my sons,
I, Simeon of the pillar, by surname
Stylites, among men; I, Simeon,
The watcher on the column till the end ;
I, Simeon, whose brain the sunshine bakes ;
I, whose bald brows in silent hours become
Unnaturally hoar with rime, do now
From my high nest of penance here proclaim
That Pontius and Iscariot by my side
Showed like fair seraphs. On the coals I lay,
A vessel full of sin : all hell beneath
Made me boil over. Devils plucked my sleeve;
Abaddon and Asmodeus caught at me.
I smote them with the cross; they swarmed again.
In bed like monstrous apes they crushed my chest.
They flapped my light out as I read: I saw

me,

may be, fast

Their faces grow between me and

my

book: With colt-like whinny and with hoggish whine They burst my prayer. Yet this way was left, And by this way I 'scaped them. Mortify Your flesh, like with scourges and with thorns ; Smite, shrink not, spare not.

If it Whole Lents, and pray. I hardly, with slow stepsWith slow, faint steps, and much exceeding pain Have scrambled past those pits of fire, that still Sing in mine ears. But yield not me the praise : God only through his bounty hath thought fit, Among the powers and princes of this world, To make me an example to mankind, Which few can reach to. Yet I do not say But that a time may come-yea, even now, Now, now, his footsteps smite the threshold stairs Of life-I

say,

that time is at the doors
When you may worship me without reproach ;
For I will leave my relics in your land,
And you may carve a shrine about my dust,
And burn a fragrant lamp before my bones,
When I am gathered to the glorious saints.

While I spake then, a sting of shrewdest pain
Ran shrivelling through me, and a cloudlike change,
In passing, with a grosser film made thick
These heavy, horny eyes. The end! the end !
Surely the end! What's here ? a shape, a shade,
A flash of light. Is that the angel there
That holds a crown ? Come, blessed brother, come.
I know thy glittering face. I waited long;
My brows are ready. What! deny it now?
Nay, draw, draw, draw nigh. So I clutch it. Christ!
'T is gone : 'tis here again ; the crown! the crown !
So now ’tis fitted on and grows to me,
And from it melt the dews of Paradise,
Sweet! sweet! spikenard, and balm, and frankin-

cense.

Ah! let me not be fooled, sweet saints : I trust That I am whole, and clean, and meet for Heaven.

Speak, if there be a priest, a man of God,
Among you there, and let him presently
Approach, and lean a ladder on the shaft,
And climbing up into my airy hone,
Deliver me the blessed sacrament;
For by the warning of the Holy Ghost,
I prophesy that I shall die to-night,
A quarter before twelve.

But thou, oh Lord,
Aid all this foolish people; let them take
Example, pattern : lead them to thy light.

THE SE A-FAIRIES.

Slow sailed the weary mariners, and saw,
Betwixt the green brink and the running foam,
Sweet faces, rounded arms, and bosoms prest
To little harps of gold ; and, while they mused,
Whispering to each other half in fear,
Shrill music reached them on the middle sea.

Whither away, whither away, whither away? Ay

no more.

Whither away from the high green field, and the

happy blossoming shore ? Day and night to the billow the fountain calls; Down shower the gambolling waterfalls From wandering over the lea: Out of the live-green heart of the dells They freshen the silvery-crimson shells, And thick with white bells the clover-hill swells High over the full-toned sea : O hither, come hither, and furl your sails, Come hither to me and to me! Hither, come hither, and frolic and play; Here it is only the mew that wails; We will sing to you all the day: