 | Silenus |  |
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BOOK II.
“Having beheld thy lustrous countenance
How have I, great Athena, fallen and sinned!
Once to have felt Thy smile; calm, less severe
Than so divinely true, that Cytherea's
Before it pales as starlight in the morn;
And shameless afterward breathe like a beast
Knowing no purpose but his mate and food!
How have I, great Athena, fallen and sinned!
Once to have felt Thy smile; calm, less severe
Than so divinely true, that Cytherea's
Before it pales as starlight in the morn;
And shameless afterward breathe like a beast
Knowing no purpose but his mate and food!
“Beneath Thine azure gaze all troubles cease;
And hopelessly confused entanglement
Opens to clearness like a simple flower.
And hopelessly confused entanglement
Opens to clearness like a simple flower.
“My face withdrawn from Wisdom's smile, I lay
Befooled by sorrow, useless as a bow
Drawn by some hasty hand and overstrained.
Befooled by sorrow, useless as a bow
Drawn by some hasty hand and overstrained.
“By Thy resplendency in olden time
I wrought with Dionysus in wild lands
To give men safety by well-ordered ways;
Enriching to content with fruit and corn
Strange peoples, rough and turbulent, who knew
No law but will, no pity more than fire
From tempest hurled at random throughout space.
Then toiling dawn as restful eve was sweet;
Then sang the whole great dome of day for joy;
From darkness shone the glory of the stars.
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To give men safety by well-ordered ways;
Enriching to content with fruit and corn
Strange peoples, rough and turbulent, who knew
No law but will, no pity more than fire
From tempest hurled at random throughout space.
Then toiling dawn as restful eve was sweet;
Then sang the whole great dome of day for joy;
From darkness shone the glory of the stars.
“Athwart my glory swept a blighting wind,
That fouled the air with murky hate and death
And evil-doing; and dismayed I fell
Adown the deep inevitable past;
When, bracing up my being, unto Thee
I should have turned for succour and for strength.
That fouled the air with murky hate and death
And evil-doing; and dismayed I fell
Adown the deep inevitable past;
When, bracing up my being, unto Thee
I should have turned for succour and for strength.
“As Dionysus taught, so mixed was mine
With fleeting life, the mortal weighed me down:
Lacking meanwhile Thy presence and Thine aid,
I never rose again to God-like state.
Now feeding lowly wants, I dwell amid
Coarse satyrs, coarser clowns of sheep and herds;
Drinking the grape for comfort and a cloud
To cover horrors past. Thus, having grown,
Wasteful and aimless, to unwieldy shape;
With scarce the power of motion save to hold
The well-filled cup that swells but keeps me down,
The grossest churls grin, urging me to sing
Ribald and wanton tunes for their disport.
And they would make me dance, but well they know
Unknitted my frail joints; I shout instead,
And chant them prophecies about themselves
They do not understand. For while the heat
Burns in me, they all change to sudden sheep,
And kine, and snarling beasts; or things that pierce
To suck the juice of fruit.
With fleeting life, the mortal weighed me down:
Lacking meanwhile Thy presence and Thine aid,
I never rose again to God-like state.
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Coarse satyrs, coarser clowns of sheep and herds;
Drinking the grape for comfort and a cloud
To cover horrors past. Thus, having grown,
Wasteful and aimless, to unwieldy shape;
With scarce the power of motion save to hold
The well-filled cup that swells but keeps me down,
The grossest churls grin, urging me to sing
Ribald and wanton tunes for their disport.
And they would make me dance, but well they know
Unknitted my frail joints; I shout instead,
And chant them prophecies about themselves
They do not understand. For while the heat
Burns in me, they all change to sudden sheep,
And kine, and snarling beasts; or things that pierce
To suck the juice of fruit.
“How changed, alas!
From that Silenus whose long spear in weight
Equalled the spear of Ares; who could wrench
A rooted ash out from the solid ground,
And slay a monster at a single blow.
Who half a summer day could hold enthralled,
By exhortation unto deeds of worth,
A fierce innumerable multitude!
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Equalled the spear of Ares; who could wrench
A rooted ash out from the solid ground,
And slay a monster at a single blow.
Who half a summer day could hold enthralled,
By exhortation unto deeds of worth,
A fierce innumerable multitude!
“Now, tarnished, bloat Silenus will be borne
In tales, thro' lapses of far time to come,
As a great wine-skin gurgling laughter-noise
That made dull shepherds dance. For shallow gaze
On some poor failing dwells and sees the whole,
Tho' but a halt upon his lengthened march
Whose movements were of God-like stateliness,
Abundant in fair issues of delight.
Let man once stumble, or forget; once err
From weakness, or fierce passion's goad, the fault,
Alone remembered, wings his cruel fame;
His worth all cancelled, or uncredited!
The splendour of Hephaestion's skill forgot,
Each scornful tattler gossips of his hurt.
The God who makes the thunderbolts of Zeus
Is known to mortals as the God that limps!
In tales, thro' lapses of far time to come,
As a great wine-skin gurgling laughter-noise
That made dull shepherds dance. For shallow gaze
On some poor failing dwells and sees the whole,
Tho' but a halt upon his lengthened march
Whose movements were of God-like stateliness,
Abundant in fair issues of delight.
Let man once stumble, or forget; once err
From weakness, or fierce passion's goad, the fault,
Alone remembered, wings his cruel fame;
His worth all cancelled, or uncredited!
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Each scornful tattler gossips of his hurt.
The God who makes the thunderbolts of Zeus
Is known to mortals as the God that limps!
“As I by mortal thraldom am debased
Below the brute, ah! never more to rise,
I would with mine own degradation cease.
No longer shaming the Divinity
From whom I sprang; or as a shameless lure
To mimicry, when rightly I should flame
A fiery signal warding dangerous steeps
About whose feet wreck and wild billows play.
Below the brute, ah! never more to rise,
I would with mine own degradation cease.
No longer shaming the Divinity
From whom I sprang; or as a shameless lure
To mimicry, when rightly I should flame
A fiery signal warding dangerous steeps
About whose feet wreck and wild billows play.
“O Pallas! Great Athena! Wisdom's self!
We know Thy sure unswerving course, unchecked,
Speeds to an aim Thyself alone canst see;
Unheeding mortals, save a gracious glance
Occasionally cast, which they perverse
Strain utmost wilfulness to blink; and hate
Even to slaughter and dark dungeon walls,
Thy worshipper who lauds the light divine.
We know Thy sure unswerving course, unchecked,
Speeds to an aim Thyself alone canst see;
Unheeding mortals, save a gracious glance
Occasionally cast, which they perverse
Strain utmost wilfulness to blink; and hate
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Thy worshipper who lauds the light divine.
“What comes so sadly and so dear to most
Disquiets not the passionless repose,
Marking Thy mien all other Gods above.
Canst Thou look downward from that lofty height
Regarding me with other than cold scorn?
If tenderness of perfectness is part,
Thine eyes may pityingly upon me fall,
And in their radiance I may cease to be!”
Disquiets not the passionless repose,
Marking Thy mien all other Gods above.
Canst Thou look downward from that lofty height
Regarding me with other than cold scorn?
If tenderness of perfectness is part,
Thine eyes may pityingly upon me fall,
And in their radiance I may cease to be!”
“A babe,” spake Pallas, “beauty in thee moved
Immeasurable joy; the idlest note
Enticed thee, as a gaudy Western sky
At eventide some careless shepherd boy,
Lost and enraptured in its golden light,
His flock neglected wandering wide astray.
Immeasurable joy; the idlest note
Enticed thee, as a gaudy Western sky
At eventide some careless shepherd boy,
Lost and enraptured in its golden light,
His flock neglected wandering wide astray.
“Thou didst, while drifting into sidelong ways,
Pursue delusive splendour that delayed
And frittered thy advance; and courage failed
When halting thou beheldst the scanty space
Trod by thy footsteps in the vanished time.
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And frittered thy advance; and courage failed
When halting thou beheldst the scanty space
Trod by thy footsteps in the vanished time.
“Ill portioned and ill mixed thy nature held
Too much of heaven's fire to herd with men;
Too little for the Gods. Hopeless to find
An equal, and thence loving, as thou didst,
A forest nymph, to make the balance true,
More than was fitting gavest her of thyself,
And losing her wast dragged so nigh to death
Thou couldst not spring to healthy poise again.
Too much of heaven's fire to herd with men;
Too little for the Gods. Hopeless to find
An equal, and thence loving, as thou didst,
A forest nymph, to make the balance true,
More than was fitting gavest her of thyself,
And losing her wast dragged so nigh to death
Thou couldst not spring to healthy poise again.
“Instead of nymph hadst thou a Goddess loved
She might have scorned thee; and in fierce despair
Thou hadst, as conqueror, destroyed with fire,
As now with revelry and crimson wine.
She might have scorned thee; and in fierce despair
Thou hadst, as conqueror, destroyed with fire,
As now with revelry and crimson wine.
“Save Zeus my Father and loved Hebe, none
Of Gods divine have ever touched my hand;
Nor great Prometheus whom I loved and took
Within my shield and guarded him against
The Horrors vigilant, that, hid or seen,
Beset Olympian fire, when bent on theft
He dared encounter them for love of man.
Of Gods divine have ever touched my hand;
Nor great Prometheus whom I loved and took
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The Horrors vigilant, that, hid or seen,
Beset Olympian fire, when bent on theft
He dared encounter them for love of man.
“But thou in thy intent hast guileless been;
Whose fair young love was torn and crushed as life
Unfolded in her to the perfect flower;
Thou in thine innocence a helpless babe
Shalt clasp my hand; and, as I lead thee hence,
Thou shalt, tho' late, enjoy the blessed peace
Found but within my guard.
Whose fair young love was torn and crushed as life
Unfolded in her to the perfect flower;
Thou in thine innocence a helpless babe
Shalt clasp my hand; and, as I lead thee hence,
Thou shalt, tho' late, enjoy the blessed peace
Found but within my guard.
“Strange is thy Fate!
As one great star, beyond thy sight remote,
Ringed by lone splendour in the space of worlds,
Encircled has thy being been with love!
And, as that splendour to the central orb,
It never nears but moves for ever round,
Thy passion is to thee!”
As one great star, beyond thy sight remote,
Ringed by lone splendour in the space of worlds,
Encircled has thy being been with love!
And, as that splendour to the central orb,
It never nears but moves for ever round,
Thy passion is to thee!”
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“O Goddess dread!
And yet I dread Thee not. My hand in Thine,
I seem an infant led. That haunting fear
Of dire and unimaginable wrong,
Hovering malign for the appointed swoop,
Is past. Around is calm, and hope beyond.”
And yet I dread Thee not. My hand in Thine,
I seem an infant led. That haunting fear
Of dire and unimaginable wrong,
Hovering malign for the appointed swoop,
Is past. Around is calm, and hope beyond.”
“Thou art, Silenus, now within the light
Of life. In joyful ease they dwell who tread
The ground that bears thee now; and spirits here,
Unmixed with transient offspring of decay,
Presenting aspects perfect to themselves,
Are pure in sympathy with all around.
Of life. In joyful ease they dwell who tread
The ground that bears thee now; and spirits here,
Unmixed with transient offspring of decay,
Presenting aspects perfect to themselves,
Are pure in sympathy with all around.
“Behold these graceful reeds that waving turn
Their edges to the breeze. Thy Syrinx dwells
Within them, they are she. The water-flags,
With purple candour gazing to thy gaze,
Asking thy love, are Leto. Loving thee
She pined to death; and dying hoped to grow
In stately water-flags anear her friend,
The graceful Syrinx whom on earth she loved.
Their edges to the breeze. Thy Syrinx dwells
Within them, they are she. The water-flags,
With purple candour gazing to thy gaze,
Asking thy love, are Leto. Loving thee
She pined to death; and dying hoped to grow
In stately water-flags anear her friend,
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“Will but to see them in their mortal guise,
Lo, they appear! Behold them bending low
To thee, as thou art bending low to them!
Lo, they appear! Behold them bending low
To thee, as thou art bending low to them!
“Tall Eriphia whom thou loved'st to watch
Because her movements had the measured charm
Of music when innumerable leaves
Sing their thanksgiving with the wind of heaven,
Loftily now she droops in yonder birch,
Fingering delightedly released perfumes
That pause in lingering eddies on their way.
Because her movements had the measured charm
Of music when innumerable leaves
Sing their thanksgiving with the wind of heaven,
Loftily now she droops in yonder birch,
Fingering delightedly released perfumes
That pause in lingering eddies on their way.
“Here are no wooings as on earth are known;
Each spirit here loves all, and all love each;
Those who fulfil their lives are here and blessed;
The base as base remain resolved to earth,
Becoming food and mansion of the worm.
Each spirit here loves all, and all love each;
Those who fulfil their lives are here and blessed;
The base as base remain resolved to earth,
Becoming food and mansion of the worm.
“When here perfection ripens, new desire,
Breaking its bounds, attains sublimer worlds
And rarer fineness in the living air,
And inspiration, throbbing passionately,
Joins in the music of the sounding spheres!
Breaking its bounds, attains sublimer worlds
And rarer fineness in the living air,
And inspiration, throbbing passionately,
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“That spheral region is remote from this
Far as thou now art from thy slumbering form
Breathing hoarse thunder in the midnight gloom
That shudders at the sound. Thou wilt awake
Believing this to be a sleep of dreams.
Ere entering again that house of flesh,
First learn thy fate from me:
Far as thou now art from thy slumbering form
Breathing hoarse thunder in the midnight gloom
That shudders at the sound. Thou wilt awake
Believing this to be a sleep of dreams.
Ere entering again that house of flesh,
First learn thy fate from me:
“No evil aim
Has stained thy soul that weakness has debased,
And, tho' to others thou hast been a bane,
It was by ways unmeant. Therefore dread not
Fire of exasperate wrath; nor Furies' scourge
Of serpents, poison-fanged, more than thou fear'st
An azure noon, or love-sick nightingale
Warbling his ardour to the evening breeze.
Has stained thy soul that weakness has debased,
And, tho' to others thou hast been a bane,
It was by ways unmeant. Therefore dread not
Fire of exasperate wrath; nor Furies' scourge
Of serpents, poison-fanged, more than thou fear'st
An azure noon, or love-sick nightingale
Warbling his ardour to the evening breeze.
“Piercing the dimmest future thou canst reach,
Thou seest thyself a wine-skin gurgling mirth,
Jeered and bemocked by unborn multitudes.
Comfort thyself in weakness. Thou canst see
Into the cycles of immensity,
Compared with vision of Olympian Gods,
About so far as might a sparrow hop
Against my Father's eagle at his speed.
Thou seest thyself a wine-skin gurgling mirth,
Jeered and bemocked by unborn multitudes.
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Into the cycles of immensity,
Compared with vision of Olympian Gods,
About so far as might a sparrow hop
Against my Father's eagle at his speed.
“In punishment thy name will bear the weight
Of well-deserved reproach thro' countless years.
But years will end: bright wilt thou reappear
Purged of thy grossness; splendid, as when she,
Syrinx, beheld thee hurl thy mighty spear.
For truth is strong, and, when unclouded, rules
Omnipotent. Men's ignorance and guile
Are ofttimes clad in adamantine scales,
Impenetrable as this golden mail
Guarding my breast; dashed from the arc of which
A God-hurled thunderbolt would fly in dust
Leaving assault no hope. Impregnable
May error be against attack without;
Corrupt within it loosens into ruin.
Of well-deserved reproach thro' countless years.
But years will end: bright wilt thou reappear
Purged of thy grossness; splendid, as when she,
Syrinx, beheld thee hurl thy mighty spear.
For truth is strong, and, when unclouded, rules
Omnipotent. Men's ignorance and guile
Are ofttimes clad in adamantine scales,
Impenetrable as this golden mail
Guarding my breast; dashed from the arc of which
A God-hurled thunderbolt would fly in dust
Leaving assault no hope. Impregnable
May error be against attack without;
Corrupt within it loosens into ruin.
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“Doubt not thy gentle life and storied woe
Will soften harsh decree and conquer love.
Then courage! Dread no more! Pursue thy Fate!
I shall be nigh thee in thine hour of need!”
Will soften harsh decree and conquer love.
Then courage! Dread no more! Pursue thy Fate!
I shall be nigh thee in thine hour of need!”
| Silenus | |