Christ's Company and Other Poems | ||
58
Dream.
I.
With camel's hair I clothed my skin,
I fed my mouth with honey wild;
And set me scarlet wool to spin,
And all my breast with hyssop filled;
Upon my brow and cheeks and chin
A bird's blood spilled.
I fed my mouth with honey wild;
And set me scarlet wool to spin,
And all my breast with hyssop filled;
Upon my brow and cheeks and chin
A bird's blood spilled.
I took a broken reed to hold,
I took a sponge of gall to press;
I took weak water-weeds to fold
About my sacrificial dress.
I took a sponge of gall to press;
I took weak water-weeds to fold
About my sacrificial dress.
I took the grasses of the field,
The flax was bolled upon my crine;
And ivy thorn and wild grapes healed
To make good wine.
The flax was bolled upon my crine;
And ivy thorn and wild grapes healed
To make good wine.
I took my scrip of manna sweet,
My cruse of water did I bless;
I took the white dove by the feet,
And flew into the wilderness.
My cruse of water did I bless;
I took the white dove by the feet,
And flew into the wilderness.
59
II.
The tiger came and played;
Uprose the lion in his mane;
The jackal's tawny nose
And sanguine dripping tongue
Out of the desert rose
And plunged its sands among;
The bear came striding o'er the desert plain.
Uprose the lion in his mane;
The jackal's tawny nose
And sanguine dripping tongue
Out of the desert rose
And plunged its sands among;
The bear came striding o'er the desert plain.
Uprose the horn and eyes
And quivering flank of the great unicorn,
And galloped round and round;
Uprose the gleaming claw
Of the leviathan, and wound
In steadfast march did draw
Its course away beyond the desert's bourn.
And quivering flank of the great unicorn,
And galloped round and round;
Uprose the gleaming claw
Of the leviathan, and wound
In steadfast march did draw
Its course away beyond the desert's bourn.
I stood within a maze
Woven round about me by a magic art,
And ordered circle-wise:
The bear more near did tread,
And with two fiery eyes,
And with a wolfish head,
Did close the circle round in every part.
Woven round about me by a magic art,
And ordered circle-wise:
The bear more near did tread,
And with two fiery eyes,
And with a wolfish head,
Did close the circle round in every part.
III.
With scarlet corded horn,With frail wrecked knees and stumbling pace,
The scapegoat came:
His eyes took flesh and spirit dread in flame
At once, and he died looking towards my face.
Christ's Company and Other Poems | ||