 | Tiresias |  |
“Severely fortune smote Tiresias,
When he beheld Me neither clad for war,
Nor in the garment worn beneath My mail;
For as I glowing from the river sprang
The Gods themselves could scarce behold Me thus!
And mortal vision lacks the strength to bear
The lustre of My presence unassuaged.
Therefore thy son was blinded, and remains
In outer darkness till his days are done.
As voices mute can never sing again,
The Gods are powerless to recover power;
But injured worth receiving sure amends,
Tiresias, gladdened by immortal light,
The time, ere he beheld Me verily,
Shall seem uncertain, and a wavering mist,
Where hovered vague inexplicable shapes,
In phantom mimicry of restless man,
Building up palaces with crumbling towers,
And sailing fleets to sea-washed mountain crags
That fold their tops in cloud; where trampling hosts
Without a sound in ghostly combat close,
And high-walled towns are captured by surprise.
Where whirlwinds spin ripe harvest into ruin;
And ever-striving ever ends in waste,
Until thro' heaven a sword of sunshine cleaves
The shrinking vapour down and strikes the earth,
When, softly melting, opens forth the day!
When he beheld Me neither clad for war,
Nor in the garment worn beneath My mail;
For as I glowing from the river sprang
The Gods themselves could scarce behold Me thus!
And mortal vision lacks the strength to bear
The lustre of My presence unassuaged.
Therefore thy son was blinded, and remains
In outer darkness till his days are done.
As voices mute can never sing again,
The Gods are powerless to recover power;
But injured worth receiving sure amends,
Tiresias, gladdened by immortal light,
The time, ere he beheld Me verily,
13
Where hovered vague inexplicable shapes,
In phantom mimicry of restless man,
Building up palaces with crumbling towers,
And sailing fleets to sea-washed mountain crags
That fold their tops in cloud; where trampling hosts
Without a sound in ghostly combat close,
And high-walled towns are captured by surprise.
Where whirlwinds spin ripe harvest into ruin;
And ever-striving ever ends in waste,
Until thro' heaven a sword of sunshine cleaves
The shrinking vapour down and strikes the earth,
When, softly melting, opens forth the day!
Blest in this light will your Tiresias dwell,
And, Godlike, thro' the tangle of desires,
Shall mark its value in an aim pursued,
And balance cost against the substance won.
And, Godlike, thro' the tangle of desires,
Shall mark its value in an aim pursued,
And balance cost against the substance won.
Now are his inborn hopes for ever fled!
But cheered by Truth's imperishable smile;
Aloof from strife, well knowing craft and strength,
Unceasing struggle for ascendency,
He shall, forecasting issues, now behold
The future fixed and certain as the past.
His sayings shall be winged with prophecy!
Fulfilment following prescience, in due course
He will be honoured as the living voice
Discoursing Destiny and laws divine!
But cheered by Truth's imperishable smile;
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Unceasing struggle for ascendency,
He shall, forecasting issues, now behold
The future fixed and certain as the past.
His sayings shall be winged with prophecy!
Fulfilment following prescience, in due course
He will be honoured as the living voice
Discoursing Destiny and laws divine!
Tho' towns arisen in splendour from the earth
Are worn to dust by Time's unheeded feet,
Time cannot, nor can God-compelling Fate
Once overthrow a wise man's simple word;
Whose wisdom mellowing slowly age by age
Augments the treasures of futurity.
Are worn to dust by Time's unheeded feet,
Time cannot, nor can God-compelling Fate
Once overthrow a wise man's simple word;
Whose wisdom mellowing slowly age by age
Augments the treasures of futurity.
But nerves must tingle to the touch of joy;
Piping and dancing after labour done!
As now Tiresias can watch no more
The shining clouds nor shadows they let fall;
The many-coloured garb of spring to him
Being but as winter's gray, his vision closed:
I will the hindrance from his ears withdraw,
And then your son shall understand the birds,
Their music, and the meaning in their songs:
And with these blest ones, in their lovely lives
Rejoicing, he will know his vanished world
But as the memory of a raging war
Where sang and whistled arrows carrying death.
Piping and dancing after labour done!
As now Tiresias can watch no more
The shining clouds nor shadows they let fall;
The many-coloured garb of spring to him
Being but as winter's gray, his vision closed:
I will the hindrance from his ears withdraw,
15
Their music, and the meaning in their songs:
And with these blest ones, in their lovely lives
Rejoicing, he will know his vanished world
But as the memory of a raging war
Where sang and whistled arrows carrying death.
| Tiresias | |