"The Watchword of the Stars"

The Watchword of the Stars

Night―and the cool soft air 

And the murmurous sleep of the sea; 

And moving up the purple East 

Orion’s splendid three. 

Night―and the silentness, 

And the shadow-brooding lea; 

And moving thro’ the mellow South 

Orion’s constant three. 

Night―and 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 Ella Higginson's The Voice of April-Land and Other Poems (1903).