The King’s Highway

Harriet Waters Preston (1836–1911)

October 6, 1892

I ’LL wake and watch this autumn night,

Till the slow dawn is gray;

Lest I should miss a noble sight

Upon the King’s highway.

For now the far-enthronèd King

To whom all flesh shall come,

A glorious message sends, to bring

His exiled minstrel home;

And I may see the guards in white

Troop round him, crowned with bay,

And many a starry torch alight,

Along the King’s highway;—

May see against the ebon skies,

The banners backward blow,

And hear the io pæan rise

About them, as they go.

What vigil would it not requite,

That glorious array,

That sure and stately march, forthright

Along the King’s highway?

*****

I heard the bells of midnight sound

From many an unseen tower,

But for the minstrel homeward bound

I could not watch one hour.

And now, how strange the growing light,

How blank the morning gray!

What stillness, after yesternight,

Broods on the King’s highway!