 | Pygmalion |  |
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BOOK V.
In lonesome chamber, darkened, hushed, and cool,Pygmalion lay asleep. Beside him sat
His Mother watchful, listening every breath,
Timorous and awestruck at the strange event.
The Priestess found Pygmalion stretched before
The tripod where the fire was dead, and he
Himself seemed dead. The Temple Guardians bore
Him home, and told all they could tell; when she,
His Mother, soon by arts her son restored
To life, by chafing; soothing cordials warm
And prosperously enticing grateful sleep.
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No deadliest hate that vigilantly eyes
Its victim for the grievous chance, could watch
With keener vision than she scanned each change
In her belovëd son, the beautiful.
Her soul ran thro' the past; when he a babe
Against her breast would pause to laugh, and leave
His food neglected: while the warlike sire
Smiling, declared her eyes would starve the child.
Well she remembered when she lost her Lord,
The dreadful numbness in her brain; the pang
That clenched her heart; and her Pygmalion lay
Sorrow be-dabbled in her helpless arms;
She not unconscious in some time remote,
That sobbing form might grow a comforter
To shield her from mischance.
The dreadful numbness in her brain; the pang
That clenched her heart; and her Pygmalion lay
Sorrow be-dabbled in her helpless arms;
She not unconscious in some time remote,
That sobbing form might grow a comforter
To shield her from mischance.
Anon she thought
With terror should Pygmalion pass away,
What would the world be then? No Husband's rule;
No point of rally in the unmanned house:
A wheel without its tire. Her thoughts sank low
And gathered darkness in the deepening,
While faintness crept within.
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What would the world be then? No Husband's rule;
No point of rally in the unmanned house:
A wheel without its tire. Her thoughts sank low
And gathered darkness in the deepening,
While faintness crept within.
Alarmed she saw
Pygmalion start and push the coverlet
Off his heroic shoulders and broad chest,
Asking if it were night; and why she sat
Distraught beholding him; and would she lift
Aside the curtain and let in the light?
Pygmalion start and push the coverlet
Off his heroic shoulders and broad chest,
Asking if it were night; and why she sat
Distraught beholding him; and would she lift
Aside the curtain and let in the light?
She hastened and obeyed wonderingly:
Then told him of the Temple Guardians' Tale;
His fall before the altar; how they brought
Him to the house as he were dead; how she
Had soothed him into sleep; from which she now
Thanked all the Gods of heaven he did awake
With senses perfect, full of questioning.
Then told him of the Temple Guardians' Tale;
His fall before the altar; how they brought
Him to the house as he were dead; how she
Had soothed him into sleep; from which she now
Thanked all the Gods of heaven he did awake
With senses perfect, full of questioning.
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Have food for me dear Mother, I will take
A plunge into the waves, when you shall see
My appetite is sound whatever else
May halt; the rest must tarry now.
A plunge into the waves, when you shall see
My appetite is sound whatever else
May halt; the rest must tarry now.
She left
With trembling paces: her full gratitude
A feast triumphal rich with new delights.
With trembling paces: her full gratitude
A feast triumphal rich with new delights.
At eventide where they could hear the splash
And lisp of everlasting waves sat they,
Pygmalion and his Mother, underneath
An ancient olive where at hush the wind
Whispered of peacefulness for evermore.
And lisp of everlasting waves sat they,
Pygmalion and his Mother, underneath
An ancient olive where at hush the wind
Whispered of peacefulness for evermore.
And there he told her of his sacrifice;
How prayer made to the Goddess brought response
In Aphrodite's overwhelming grace.
Her promise of some mighty good, which though
Certain as fate not thereupon unveiled;
Followed by threat of taint like pestilence;
Friends become foes; shrunk fear, or sudden death.
How horror of unwonted foul despite
Palsied his steadfastness: sank faint his heart,
When lo! the Goddess neared and touched his brow
With breath of frost that entered like a spear,
And nothing knew he more.
How prayer made to the Goddess brought response
In Aphrodite's overwhelming grace.
Her promise of some mighty good, which though
Certain as fate not thereupon unveiled;
Followed by threat of taint like pestilence;
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How horror of unwonted foul despite
Palsied his steadfastness: sank faint his heart,
When lo! the Goddess neared and touched his brow
With breath of frost that entered like a spear,
And nothing knew he more.
She him assured
The Gods were just; his faith must patiently
Await their issue. Aphrodite's words
Would cheer him as a shout victorious
In effort's closest press. Malignant hate;
Backsliding friends, chorussed disdain; the mince
Of small malevolence; these take O Son
As tempests; blight in corn; raw chills of wind,
And earthquakes; hard and burdensome to bear,
But in the course of things ofttimes irks more
Opposing than to loftily endure.
The Gods were just; his faith must patiently
Await their issue. Aphrodite's words
Would cheer him as a shout victorious
In effort's closest press. Malignant hate;
Backsliding friends, chorussed disdain; the mince
Of small malevolence; these take O Son
As tempests; blight in corn; raw chills of wind,
And earthquakes; hard and burdensome to bear,
But in the course of things ofttimes irks more
Opposing than to loftily endure.
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Decrees of Fate outspoken by the Gods,
What mortal dares gainsay?
What mortal dares gainsay?
When Egypt old,
Unglutted from her gorge of swallowed states,
Rapacious still, sailed with a fleet of war
On Cyprus to engulph us with the rest;
The King and Rulers by a weight of votes
Assigned your Father the command in chief
To give their visit welcome. Slighting not
Old Egypt's power so dread and imminent,
He made disposal of the Island force,
No breathing time of loss. Piously then
To great Athena's Temple went and prayed
Whatever good the Gods would deign to grant,
Of aid and guidance to maintain the state
Against fierce Heathen who abhorred our Gods,
And would their fanes abolish ruthlessly.
He said that as a voice might sound in dreams,
Unglutted from her gorge of swallowed states,
Rapacious still, sailed with a fleet of war
On Cyprus to engulph us with the rest;
The King and Rulers by a weight of votes
Assigned your Father the command in chief
To give their visit welcome. Slighting not
Old Egypt's power so dread and imminent,
He made disposal of the Island force,
No breathing time of loss. Piously then
To great Athena's Temple went and prayed
Whatever good the Gods would deign to grant,
Of aid and guidance to maintain the state
Against fierce Heathen who abhorred our Gods,
And would their fanes abolish ruthlessly.
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Await the foe
Fast by the landing-place in part concealed.
Your men rank close in shape of hollow wedge.
A trusted Leader place at either horn.
Yourself within the apex give command.
Move swiftly to and fro on either side.
Hold well aloof a strong force in reserve.
The foe when dashed, his every charge repulsed,
Signal your onset; charge with all your strength.
The fairest death is death in victory,
Gods love the Brave who fighting for them die.
His head was bent in reverence when the sound
Had ceased; but conscious was he of some touch
That thrilled and ran throughout his brain like fire:
Whereon he rose, his purpose luminous,
His resolution fixed.
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Of her, she said, more sweet his tenderness
Than in the earliest yearning flush of love.
Whatever might be his appointed fate
It would be hers to know her sweetness made
His life a blessing. Should the blade of war
Cut short his thread, he bade her not bewail
As he should fall obedient to the Gods,
Man's highest privilege. That she would find
The future of their Boy an ample world
For love; forethought; and fortitude to bear
Changes inevitably born of growth.
And should she grace him in her memory
As cenotaph he wished their Son be taught
His Father's deep immeasurable love.
Then in his arms he took her silently,
Both rapt in feelings that could not be told
While Time pulled in his rapid steeds and paused.
When low the sun flashed light in mighty beams
Clouding in glory the Olympian Gods
High placed for worshipping and household Guards,
The sigh he gave seemed drawn from Hades' depths
By one permitted for a task to breathe
Our upper world; holding her head between
His hands, he kissed her brow and wetted eyes,
Then sharply turned away.
Both rapt in feelings that could not be told
While Time pulled in his rapid steeds and paused.
When low the sun flashed light in mighty beams
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High placed for worshipping and household Guards,
The sigh he gave seemed drawn from Hades' depths
By one permitted for a task to breathe
Our upper world; holding her head between
His hands, he kissed her brow and wetted eyes,
Then sharply turned away.
On either side
Without, the Maidens, servants, crowding slaves,
Ranged to behold him leave. Each Maiden's hand
He lifting courteously kissed; then bowed
His kingly head to all around and went.
Without, the Maidens, servants, crowding slaves,
Ranged to behold him leave. Each Maiden's hand
He lifting courteously kissed; then bowed
His kingly head to all around and went.
She watched him up the rutted chariot way,
Till he had reached where Temple columns closed
The view: when, turning round his spear he raised
And twirled it in an airy circle, as
If greeting her with triumph; thus, she hoped,
He went not sad at heart to meet his fate:
She knew he tried to make her think him glad.
When back were beaten Egypt's smirking hordes
Till he had reached where Temple columns closed
The view: when, turning round his spear he raised
And twirled it in an airy circle, as
If greeting her with triumph; thus, she hoped,
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She knew he tried to make her think him glad.
In flight confused rushing to reach their ships;
Pointing the chase, your Father, strides advanced
Beyond his warriors, neared so fast the shore,
Drew on himself a concentrated shower
Of arrows aimed to cover the retreat,
And, as the Oracle foreshadowed, fell.
They would not let me see his lifeless form,
So marred and mangled by the volleyed death.
But after rite and ceremony fit
All that was left of my own honoured Lord
A brazen vase contained: a pinch of dust,
Fragments of calcined bones, and memory.
The nation's victory was overcast
And saddened by their Chiefs untimely close.
The King bewailed him as a dearest son
Who might awhile have shared his throne, and borne
Hereafter the whole burden. Such the trust
His nature bred.
And saddened by their Chiefs untimely close.
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Who might awhile have shared his throne, and borne
Hereafter the whole burden. Such the trust
His nature bred.
Here sitting with your hands
In mine; feeling their hard and massive size;
And interlaced these boughs above our heads
Thro' whose selfsame intricacies we watched
Stars lighting their illimitable world,
I feel almost as if I yet held his.
But O my son, tho' you have been to me
More than your Father or myself could hope,
Not even you could fairly equal him.
In mine; feeling their hard and massive size;
And interlaced these boughs above our heads
Thro' whose selfsame intricacies we watched
Stars lighting their illimitable world,
I feel almost as if I yet held his.
But O my son, tho' you have been to me
More than your Father or myself could hope,
Not even you could fairly equal him.
There was such reverence in his courtesy
Acceptance seemed conferring privilege,
So graciously he owned acknowledgment.
And all his kindly acts came in the course
Of nature; not as efforts meant to please:
And gratitude awakened glad surprise
That life so teemed in blossoming delights.
His courage; wisdom; and his fortune he
Held but as trusts the state might call upon,
And not as private rights to sacrifice.
Therefore the King and Best exampled him
As worthy for their sons to imitate.
Acceptance seemed conferring privilege,
So graciously he owned acknowledgment.
And all his kindly acts came in the course
Of nature; not as efforts meant to please:
And gratitude awakened glad surprise
That life so teemed in blossoming delights.
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Held but as trusts the state might call upon,
And not as private rights to sacrifice.
Therefore the King and Best exampled him
As worthy for their sons to imitate.
You are, Pygmalion, flawed with moodiness;
Strange spells of absence from the world, as though
You dreamed in daytime while the limbs perform
Unerringly. Sometimes I fear mayhap
Wanting a Father's firm control, who would
Nip freakish shoots and regulate increase,
Have left to wander wildly tendencies
That might have flourished to a kindlier crop.
Strange spells of absence from the world, as though
You dreamed in daytime while the limbs perform
Unerringly. Sometimes I fear mayhap
Wanting a Father's firm control, who would
Nip freakish shoots and regulate increase,
Have left to wander wildly tendencies
That might have flourished to a kindlier crop.
To hear my Father praised, and thus, by you
O dearest Mother, gives me sure foretaste
Of what the Oracle so surely told:
For never heretofore have I rejoiced
With such a full and bounding throb of pride
As now you tell of his heroic death,
Saving the state, commanded by the Gods,
Slain, but not conquered. For such men as he
Ride on the wings of Victory; or they
Enter the gates of Death as Conquerors,
Invincible in life.
O dearest Mother, gives me sure foretaste
Of what the Oracle so surely told:
For never heretofore have I rejoiced
With such a full and bounding throb of pride
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Saving the state, commanded by the Gods,
Slain, but not conquered. For such men as he
Ride on the wings of Victory; or they
Enter the gates of Death as Conquerors,
Invincible in life.
In these strange moods
Sometimes I feel the Gods hold me in thrall
Disclosing laws larger than govern states.
Of truth's eternity: the accident
Of time; the nothingness of space; the force
Of pure resolve. The fate of reckless ones
Who disregard their signs and oracles,
And omen pregnant with their wills sublime.
My heart were pained, O mother, could I think
Sometimes I feel the Gods hold me in thrall
Disclosing laws larger than govern states.
Of truth's eternity: the accident
Of time; the nothingness of space; the force
Of pure resolve. The fate of reckless ones
Who disregard their signs and oracles,
And omen pregnant with their wills sublime.
In common paths my duty halted lame.
But dare I plod blind and unheedingly
When light immortal opens on my sight?
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His tenderness; even poor slaves his care
Protected often from deserved mishap.
The fire of strength, his resolution swift!
Thus mused the Matron; hands still clasping his,
Remembering his skill in warlike arts;
Severe devotion to his godlike work;
She owned, although strangely dissimilar
From her great Husband's constancy of worth,
Not less, but other was Pygmalion.
| Pygmalion | |