“The Watchword of the Stars”

Nightand the cool soft air 
And the murmurous sleep of the sea; 
And moving up the purple East 
Orion’s splendid three. 
Nightand the silentness, 
And the shadow-brooding lea; 
And moving thro’ the mellow South 
Orion’s constant three. 
Nightand the loneliness, 
And the eyes that wake and weep; 
But calm and patient in the West 
The stars that never sleep. 
What is your watchword, stars? 
Tell me, Orion’s three! 
What is your message? . . . Love, 
Patience and Constancy? 

“The Watchword of the Stars” as it appears in Higginson’s The Voice of April-Land and Other Poems (1903).