 | Voices and visions |  |
41
THE TWILIGHT OF POETRY
I moved at midnight through veils of vapour that interblended or backward blew,
Until the folds of their drowsy volumes at last had faded like morning dew.
Until the folds of their drowsy volumes at last had faded like morning dew.
And then before me a land was visioned, a land of dimness and calm intense,
By dawn or sunset alike discarded, illumined vaguely, I knew not whence.
By dawn or sunset alike discarded, illumined vaguely, I knew not whence.
Through laurelled verges a stream went slipping where towered a temple in marble peace,
A pillared fabric that wore like fragrance the skill, the grandeur, the grace of Greece.
A pillared fabric that wore like fragrance the skill, the grandeur, the grace of Greece.
Beneath it wandered a stately wardress, whose brows were god-like, who roamed and sang
Melodious tumults of lamentation, where lyric anguish divinely rang.
Melodious tumults of lamentation, where lyric anguish divinely rang.
‘Though vestured once with its vaunted homage, I droop to-day with the world's disdain;
Lo, these my fountains and courts forsaken; lo, this my temple, deserted fane!
Lo, these my fountains and courts forsaken; lo, this my temple, deserted fane!
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‘Above me arches no more the azure that warmed and welcomed my birds and blooms;
I dwell diskingdomed in desolation; I grope and falter through taunting glooms.
I dwell diskingdomed in desolation; I grope and falter through taunting glooms.
‘White-bearded Homer once blindly sought me; from foot-worn sandals I loosed their thongs,
And bade him smite me his harp of thunder, and bade him sing me his mighty songs.
And bade him smite me his harp of thunder, and bade him sing me his mighty songs.
‘Clear on through ages, like pious pilgrims, all proudest minstrels, with humbled air,
Have crossed my thresholds and craved my counsels, have paced my gardens and found them fair.
Have crossed my thresholds and craved my counsels, have paced my gardens and found them fair.
‘In lofty converse my lips have taught them the creeds of beauty and all its claims;
For beauty and poesy intertangle, and flash from contact ambrosial flames.
For beauty and poesy intertangle, and flash from contact ambrosial flames.
‘I told of languors on lakes that slumber where dense woods clasp them and boughs hang low;
Of mountains plunging and tumbling skyward to fling at failure clenched hands of snow.
Of mountains plunging and tumbling skyward to fling at failure clenched hands of snow.
‘I spake of nights, how they know as mortals long lonesome vigils, like prayer and pain,
With stars like hopes and with moons like passions, that wax for ever, for ever wane.
With stars like hopes and with moons like passions, that wax for ever, for ever wane.
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‘I spake of days, how they die as men do, their listless lilacs, their silvers cold,
Their pearly rose-tints like resignation, delirious crimsons, rebellious gold.
Their pearly rose-tints like resignation, delirious crimsons, rebellious gold.
‘Of that huge portrait, the sea, where mingle such myriad emblems of human fates—
Its wrath like man's and its lulls repentant, its deeps unsounded, its loves, its hates.
Its wrath like man's and its lulls repentant, its deeps unsounded, its loves, its hates.
‘For man to nature by bonds of beauty is bound in spirit, and ever shares
The march and meaning of her mutations, her calms or frenzies, her joys, despairs.
The march and meaning of her mutations, her calms or frenzies, her joys, despairs.
‘What power like mine may reveal or picture these forms and phases, twofold yet one?
What power like Poesy, me, arch artist, whom throngs that worshipped now spurn and shun!
What power like Poesy, me, arch artist, whom throngs that worshipped now spurn and shun!
‘O sister Music, full well thou knowest, howe'er thine altars be crowned and kissed,
That I transcend thee and tower above thee, as heaven o'ermantles its moods of mist.
That I transcend thee and tower above thee, as heaven o'ermantles its moods of mist.
‘O sister Painting, for all thy potence, for all thy wonder of hue and line,
I am to thee as an oak to its ivy, and thou to me art as palm to pine.
I am to thee as an oak to its ivy, and thou to me art as palm to pine.
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‘O sister Sculpture, whose charms I cherish, whose pale dominions my heart adores,
Thy genius breaks on my grander genius like shining surges on beetling shores.
Thy genius breaks on my grander genius like shining surges on beetling shores.
‘Ye are three sweet strings, O my three sweet sisters, of that great lute which my arms can shrine;
There are many strings besides these ye symbol, but these and the lute itself are mine!
There are many strings besides these ye symbol, but these and the lute itself are mine!
‘For I am intellect, love, emotion; my realm is vast as the human soul;
I oversoar ye and undersweep ye; I comprehend ye and I control.
I oversoar ye and undersweep ye; I comprehend ye and I control.
‘Men flout me and fleer me in this base epoch, degrade my godship, despise my tears,
While racked with odium of such gross usage, I bide immortal, for all their jeers!’
While racked with odium of such gross usage, I bide immortal, for all their jeers!’
So Poesy in my vision lifted her voice of protest, of woe and pride;
And yet through all the ungrateful twilight not even one pitying echo sighed.
And yet through all the ungrateful twilight not even one pitying echo sighed.
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