<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="" class="head">Magic</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">A god</span>, a god sits on my hearth, </p><p class="line">Laughs and plays with sober mirth, </p><p class="line">Sings a small song, merry and wild, </p><p class="line">As a bird might or a child.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">As a kitten plays will play, </p><p class="line">Or a lamb on a May day. </p><p class="line">A happy, busy household elf </p><p class="line">Croons a wee song to himself.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Strayed here from some Olympian hill, </p><p class="line">This god in rose and daffodil, </p><p class="line">Yet boils my kettle, cooks my dish, </p><p class="line">Gives savour to the meats and fish.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I stretch my chilly hands above, </p><p class="line">And like my dog he fawns in love: </p><p class="line">Licks at me with a playful tongue </p><p class="line">And frisks, a bright thing, merry and young.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">And yet so great a god is he, </p><p class="line">You shall approach him on your knee, </p><p class="line">Lest that his lightnings teach you awe, </p><p class="line">This Burning Bush that Moses saw.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">He is the Ark no hand may touch, </p><p class="line">The Lily of Light without a smutch, </p><p class="line">The Living Rose that none may take, </p><p class="line">Caged in a gold and thorny brake.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">This holy one stays with me still, </p><p class="line">Singing his small song merry and shrill, </p><p class="line">And hath so many things to do, </p><p class="line">There is no time to grieve or rue</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">For the great state he hath foregone, </p><p class="line">The Lord Sun's dear companion, </p><p class="line">Who toils and plays upon my hearth, </p><p class="line">Nor yet forgets his starry birth.</p></div></body></html> · Great War