III
gain the Talisman, now set in gold,
Was worn by woman as in days of old.
She asked herself, "Doth mystery lurk herein?
Can we from this some hidden knowledge win?
Perhaps for us there is a task to do,
Of bygone times some link to find anew.
Cold stone! if dowered thou by magic deep,
What then _if silence thou must ever keep?
Jadeite grey-green, by ancients called divine,
Till Earth grow cold this talisman may shine;
As it hath seen long eons in the past,
So may it yet man's memory outlast."
'Twas thus the dreamer meditating thought,
Till by her strong desire some rays were caught.
(77)
