BEFORE the clepsydra had bound the days br Man tethered Change to his fixed star, and said: br 'The elder races, that long since are dead, br Marched by that light; it swerves not from its base br Though all the worlds about it wax and fade.' br br br When Egypt saw it, fast in reeling spheres, br Her Pyramids shaft-centred on its ray br She reared and said: 'Long as this star holds sway br In uninvaded ether, shall the years br Revere my monuments - ' and went her way. br br br The Pyramids abide; but through the shaft br That held the polar pivot, eye to eye, br Look now - blank nothingness! As though Change laughed br At man's presumption and his puny craft, br The star has slipped its leash and roams the sky. br br br Yet could the immemorial piles be swung br A skyey hair's breadth from their rooted base, br Back to the central anchorage of space, br Ah, then again, as when the race was young, br Should they behold the beacon of the race! br br br Of old men said: 'The Truth is there: we rear br Our faith full-centred on it. It was known br Thus of the elders who foreran us here, br Mapped out its circuit in the shifting sphere, br And found it, 'mid mutation, fixed alone.' br br br Change laughs again, again the sky is cold, br And down that fissure now no star-beam glides. br Yet they whose sweep of vision grows not old br Still at the central point of space behold br Another pole-star: for the Truth abides.