LE REPOS IN EGYPTE: THE SPHINX

All day I watch the stretch of burning sand; All night I brood beneath the golden stars; Amid the silence of a desolate land, No touch of bitterness my reverie mars. Built by the proudest of a kingly line, Over my head the centuries fly fast; The secrets of the mighty dead are mine; I hold the key of a forgotten past. Yet, ever hushed into a rapturous dream, I see again that night. A halo mild Shone from the liquid moon. Beneath her beam Traveled a tired young Mother and the Child. Within mine arms she slumbered, and alone I watched the Infant. At my feet her guide Lay stretched o’er-wearied. On my breast of stone Rested the Crucified.