The Companions

On uplands bleak and bare to wind
Beneath a maze of stars I strode;
Phantoms of Fear haunted the road,
Dogging my footsteps close behind.
Till Heaven blew clear of cloud, showed each
Most tiny baby-star as fine
As any jewel of kings. Orion
Triumphed through bare tracery of beech.
So unafraid I journeyed on
Past dusky rut and pool alight
With Heaven's chief wonder of night
Jupiter, close companion.
And in no mood of pride, courteous
Light-hearted, as with a king's friend,
He went with me to the journey's end
His courtiers Mars and Regulus.
My door reached, gladly had I paid
With stammered thanks his courtesy
And theirs, but ne'er a star could see
Of all Heaven's ordered cavalcade.
The inky pools naught held but shade,
Fine snow drove West and blinded me.