The Well-Spring

Since the former priestess’s departure
a sea-change has taken place:
after years of loyal endeavour,
the ranks of the handmaidens
have been thinned. May their successors,
the new custodians, in due course
prove their dexterity as water-drawers;
and retain the wellspring, a continuing
source of replenishment, untainted;
its silver bucket untarnished. Meanwhile,
giving the imagination free rein, may they
preserve their predecessors’ vigour and grace,
midway between figures on a Keatsian urn
and Matisse’s dancers, in their ecstatic ring.