 | The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang |  |
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FROM ‘CLEOPATRA’
Lament for Osiris
‘Sing we Osiris dead,
Lament the fallen head:
The light has left the world, the world is gray.
Athwart the starry skies
The web of darkness flies,
And Isis weeps Osiris passed away.
Your tears, ye stars, ye fires, ye rivers, shed,
Weep, children of the Nile, weep for your lord is dead!’
Lament the fallen head:
The light has left the world, the world is gray.
Athwart the starry skies
The web of darkness flies,
And Isis weeps Osiris passed away.
Your tears, ye stars, ye fires, ye rivers, shed,
Weep, children of the Nile, weep for your lord is dead!’
‘Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
Within the sanctuary sevenfold;
Soft on the dead that liveth are we calling:
“Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
Return to them that worship thee of old.”’
Within the sanctuary sevenfold;
Soft on the dead that liveth are we calling:
“Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
Return to them that worship thee of old.”’
‘Within the court divine
The sevenfold sacred shrine
We pass, while echoes of the temple walls
Repeat the long lament
The sound of sorrow sent
Far up within the imperishable halls,
Where, each in other's arms, the sisters weep,
Isis and Nephthys, o'er his unawaking sleep.’
The sevenfold sacred shrine
We pass, while echoes of the temple walls
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The sound of sorrow sent
Far up within the imperishable halls,
Where, each in other's arms, the sisters weep,
Isis and Nephthys, o'er his unawaking sleep.’
‘Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
Within the sanctuary sevenfold;
Soft on the dead that liveth are we calling:
“Return, Osiris, from thy kingdom cold!
Return to them that worship thee of old.”’
Within the sanctuary sevenfold;
Soft on the dead that liveth are we calling:
“Return, Osiris, from thy kingdom cold!
Return to them that worship thee of old.”’
‘O dweller in the west,
Lover and lordliest,
Thy love, thy sister Isis, calls thee home!
Come from thy chamber dun
Thou master of the sun,
Thy shadowy chamber far below the foam!
With weary wings and spent
Through all the firmament,
Through all the horror-haunted ways of hell,
I seek thee near and far,
From star to wandering star,
Free with the dead that in Amenti dwell.
I search the height, the deep, the lands, the skies,
Rise from the dead and live, our lord Osiris, rise!’
‘Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
Within the sanctuary sevenfold;
Soft on the dead that liveth are we calling:
“Return, Osiris, from thy kingdom cold!
Return to them that worship thee of old.”’
Lover and lordliest,
Thy love, thy sister Isis, calls thee home!
Come from thy chamber dun
Thou master of the sun,
Thy shadowy chamber far below the foam!
With weary wings and spent
Through all the firmament,
Through all the horror-haunted ways of hell,
I seek thee near and far,
From star to wandering star,
Free with the dead that in Amenti dwell.
I search the height, the deep, the lands, the skies,
Rise from the dead and live, our lord Osiris, rise!’
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Within the sanctuary sevenfold;
Soft on the dead that liveth are we calling:
“Return, Osiris, from thy kingdom cold!
Return to them that worship thee of old.”’
225
The Awaking of Osiris
‘He wakes—from forth the prison
We sing Osiris risen,
We sing the child that Nout conceived and bare.
Thine own love, Isis, waits
The Warden of the gates,
She breathes the breath of life on breast and hair.
And in her breast and breath
Behold! he wakeneth,
Behold! at length he riseth out of rest;
Touched with her holy hands,
The lord of all the lands,
He stirs, he rises from her breath, her breast!
But thou, fell Typhon, fly,
The judgment day drawn nigh,
Fleet on thy track as flame speeds Horus from the sky.’
We sing Osiris risen,
We sing the child that Nout conceived and bare.
Thine own love, Isis, waits
The Warden of the gates,
She breathes the breath of life on breast and hair.
And in her breast and breath
Behold! he wakeneth,
Behold! at length he riseth out of rest;
Touched with her holy hands,
The lord of all the lands,
He stirs, he rises from her breath, her breast!
But thou, fell Typhon, fly,
The judgment day drawn nigh,
Fleet on thy track as flame speeds Horus from the sky.’
‘Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
Within the sanctuary sevenfold;
Soft on the dead that liveth are we calling:
“Return, Osiris, from thy kingdom cold!
Return to them that worship thee of old.”
Within the sanctuary sevenfold;
Soft on the dead that liveth are we calling:
“Return, Osiris, from thy kingdom cold!
Return to them that worship thee of old.”
226
‘Sing we the trinity,
Sing we the holy three,
Sing we, and praise we and worship the throne;
Throne that our lord hath set—
There peace and truth are met
There in the Halls of the Holy alone!
There in the shadowings
Faint of the folded wings,
Sing we the holy three,
Sing we, and praise we and worship the throne;
Throne that our lord hath set—
There peace and truth are met
There in the Halls of the Holy alone!
There in the shadowings
Faint of the folded wings,
‘There shall we dwell and rejoice in our rest;
We that thy servants are!
Horus drive ill afar!
Far in the folds of the dark of the west!’
We that thy servants are!
Horus drive ill afar!
Far in the folds of the dark of the west!’
‘Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
Within the sanctuary sevenfold;
Soft on the dead that liveth are we calling:
“Return, Osiris, from thy kingdom cold!
Return to them that worship thee of old.”’
Within the sanctuary sevenfold;
Soft on the dead that liveth are we calling:
“Return, Osiris, from thy kingdom cold!
Return to them that worship thee of old.”’
‘Osiris our hope! Osiris! Osiris!’
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‘Night on the Sea’
‘Night on the sea, and night upon the sky,
And music in our hearts, we floated there,
Lulled by the low sea voices, thou and I,
And the wind's kisses in my cloudy hair:
And thou didst gaze on me and call me fair
Enfolded by the starry robe of night;—
And then thy singing thrilled upon the air,
Voice of the heart's desire and love's delight.’
And music in our hearts, we floated there,
Lulled by the low sea voices, thou and I,
And the wind's kisses in my cloudy hair:
And thou didst gaze on me and call me fair
Enfolded by the starry robe of night;—
And then thy singing thrilled upon the air,
Voice of the heart's desire and love's delight.’
‘Adrift, with starlit skies above,
With starlit seas below,
We move with all the suns that move,
With all the seas that flow;
For bond or free, earth, sky, and sea,
Wheel with one circling will;
And thy heart drifteth on to me,
And only time stands still.
With starlit seas below,
We move with all the suns that move,
With all the seas that flow;
For bond or free, earth, sky, and sea,
Wheel with one circling will;
And thy heart drifteth on to me,
And only time stands still.
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‘Between two shores of death we drift,
Behind are things forgot:
Before the tide is driving swift
To lands beholden not.
Above, the sky is far and cold;
Below, the moaning sea
Sweeps o'er the loves that were of old,
But, oh, love! kiss thou me.
Behind are things forgot:
Before the tide is driving swift
To lands beholden not.
Above, the sky is far and cold;
Below, the moaning sea
Sweeps o'er the loves that were of old,
But, oh, love! kiss thou me.
‘Ah, lonely are the ocean ways,
And dangerous the deep;
And frail the fairy barque that strays
Above the seas asleep!
Ah, toil no more at sail nor oar,
We drift, or bond or free;
On yon far shore the breakers roar,
But, oh, love! kiss thou me.
And dangerous the deep;
And frail the fairy barque that strays
Above the seas asleep!
Ah, toil no more at sail nor oar,
We drift, or bond or free;
On yon far shore the breakers roar,
But, oh, love! kiss thou me.
‘Ah, lonely are the ocean ways,
And dangerous the deep;
And frail the fairy barque that strays
Above the seas asleep!
Ah, toil no more at sail nor oar,
We drift, or bond or free;
On yon far shore the breakers roar,
But, oh, love! kiss thou me.’
And dangerous the deep;
And frail the fairy barque that strays
Above the seas asleep!
Ah, toil no more at sail nor oar,
We drift, or bond or free;
On yon far shore the breakers roar,
But, oh, love! kiss thou me.’
‘And ever as thou sangest I drew near,
Then sudden silence heard our hearts that beat;
For now there was an end of doubt and fear,
Now passion filled my soul and led my feet;
Then silent didst thou rise thy love to meet,
Who, sinking on thy breast, knew naught but thee,
And in the happy night I kissed thee, sweet;
Ah, sweet! between the starlight and the sea.’
Then sudden silence heard our hearts that beat;
For now there was an end of doubt and fear,
Now passion filled my soul and led my feet;
Then silent didst thou rise thy love to meet,
Who, sinking on thy breast, knew naught but thee,
And in the happy night I kissed thee, sweet;
Ah, sweet! between the starlight and the sea.’
| The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang | |