HERO'S LAMP *

That lamp thou fill'st in Eros name to-night,

O Hero, shall the Sestian augurs take

To-morrow, and for drowned Leander's sake

To Anteros its fireless lip shall plight.

Aye, waft the unspoken vow: yet dawn's first light

On ebbing storm and life twice ebb'd must break;

While‘ neath no sunrise, by the Avernian Lake,

Lo where Love walks, Death's pallid neophyte.

That lamp within Anteros’ shadowy shrine

Shall stand unlit ( for so the gods decree )

Till some one man the happy issue see

Of a life's love, and bid its flame to shine:

Which still may rest unfir'd; for, theirs or thine,

O brother, what brought love to them or thee?