 | Mansoul or The Riddle of the World |  |
Souls! quoth that venerable Sire evoked;
Which have not your mortality yet put off:
How came ye in híther! And éntered by what Gate?
To ghostly realms, of éverlasting sleep.
I read, revert! lest suddenly overtake,
You apúnishment, thát Heavens ordinance transgress;
Descended to Worlds Dead, before your deaths.
Which have not your mortality yet put off:
54
To ghostly realms, of éverlasting sleep.
I read, revert! lest suddenly overtake,
You apúnishment, thát Heavens ordinance transgress;
Descended to Worlds Dead, before your deaths.
Made réverence, Mansoul hath responded thus:
We entered hither by the gates of Peace.
Know, O righteous Lord of men, mongst living wights,
Whom comforts yet the Sun, in World above;
We have diligently sought out righteous paths.
Nor, wíthout Heavens grace, bé we descended;
In an excess of spirit, yet living flesh,
To Earth beneath, to enquíre of Ages past:
Unto whom, as nearer to immortal Gods;
Was more revealed, than is vouchsafed to us:
Concerning Wisdom and eternal Light.
Nebo.
We entered hither by the gates of Peace.
Know, O righteous Lord of men, mongst living wights,
Whom comforts yet the Sun, in World above;
We have diligently sought out righteous paths.
Nor, wíthout Heavens grace, bé we descended;
In an excess of spirit, yet living flesh,
To Earth beneath, to enquíre of Ages past:
Unto whom, as nearer to immortal Gods;
Was more revealed, than is vouchsafed to us:
Concerning Wisdom and eternal Light.
Heaven fúlfill ríght desires of pious hearts!
But what might, where remaineth naught únto ús;
Save Silent Shadow of everlasting Death;
My children, I, long dead, to you impart?
And lifting hís two consecrated hands;
Which wont his Nations prayers and sacrifices;
(He a Prophet, herald of eternal Gods;)
To offer up: he sware his royal oath,
By Throne of the Most Highest; him liever were,
To be a thrall, one captive led in war;
A tiller of Earths dust, or to keep flocks;
Or shipman trading by the rivers flood:
And see rise dewy dayspring on Earths face,
And smell that sweetness of the morrows breath;
Than crowned and sceptered King, here swoon in death.
Mansoul.
Which wont his Nations prayers and sacrifices;
(He a Prophet, herald of eternal Gods;)
55
By Throne of the Most Highest; him liever were,
To be a thrall, one captive led in war;
A tiller of Earths dust, or to keep flocks;
Or shipman trading by the rivers flood:
And see rise dewy dayspring on Earths face,
And smell that sweetness of the morrows breath;
Than crowned and sceptered King, here swoon in death.
Warden of men, beséech thee! únfold to us;
That Wisdom heavenly, whích once Saviour Gods,
Time was, infused into thy living breast.
Nebo.
Is not His Eye all-seeing overall?
Contend to please Him: so do tó all men;
As thou wouldst be done by of them. Deceased;
So mayest thou enter This eternal rest.
| Mansoul or The Riddle of the World | |