Page:Mistral - Mirèio. A Provençal poem.djvu/237

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"Until—once more all glory be to God!—
Upon a rockless beach we safely trod,
And knelt on the wet sand, crying, 'O Thou
Who saved from sword and tempest, hear our vow!
Each one of us is an evangelist
Thy law to preach. We swear it, O Lord Christ!'

"At that great name, that cry till then unheard,
Noble Provence, wert thou not deeply stirred?
Thy woods and fields, in all their fair extent,
Thrilled with the rapture of a sweet content;
As a dog scents his master's coming feet,
And flies with bounding welcome him to meet.

"Thou, Heavenly Father, also didst provide
A feast of shell-fish, stranded by the tide,
To stay our hunger; and, to quench our thirst,
Madest among the salicornes outburst
The same clear, healing spring, which flows alway
Inude the church where our dust sleeps to-day.

"Glowing with zeal, we track the shingly Rhone
From moor to moor. In faith we travel on
Until right gladly we discern the traces
Of human husbandry in those wild places,
And soon, afar, the tall Arlesian towers,
Crowned by the standard of the emperors.