XVIII.
THE FALL OF PAGANISM.
I
Faunus' voice upon the mountains
In long hollow vales I hear:
Faunus weeps his glades and fountains,
Sighs o'er each returning year.
Each returning year his altars
Sink and moulder in decay:
For the faith of ages falters,
Fading soft from earth away.
II
‘Earth, fair earth, my chosen dwelling,
I am passing from thy sight;
Pale as mists at morn upswelling
Waste within the noonday light.
Earth, fair earth, I sigh to lose thee,
For I love thy beauty well:
How can gods do aught but choose thee,
Nature's pleasant citadel?
III
‘In the days of young creation,
Man beheld thine awful face:
Eyes were sunk in adoration,
Faith inspired her infant race:—
Call'd from Dreamland's shadowy portals,
Forth I came to man's abodes;
Shaped by will of eager mortals,
'Mid the horror of the woods.
IV
‘Where through beechen stems are glancing
Arrowy streams of levell'd light:
Where the pine-tree tops are dancing
On Cylléné's feathery height;
Where Laverna's oaks are brooding
O'er the vaults of noon-day shade,
Hearts adored me, man implored me,
Guardian of the phantom glade.
V
‘Earth, fair earth, once spirit-haunted
In the days of youthful man,
Ere thy youngest child had vaunted
He his mother's heart could scan:
Veil the light of dear-bought reason:
Save thy sons from fruitless pain:
Grant them childhood's trustful season:
Give them back their youth again.
VI
‘Why should man do aught but wonder,
Why thy secrets hope to scan?
What has rent the links asunder
That united thee to man?
Whence the voice of idle treason
'Gainst the glories of thy reign?
Why should Faith give place to Reason!—
—Give them back their youth again.
VII
‘Still the white-clad train before me
Through the vale in chorus winds:
Village hearts may yet adore me
In the faith of simple minds.
Earth! through all thy changes save them
From the weight of reason's chain:
Let no heartless creed enslave them:
Give them back their youth again.’
