 | The music-lesson of Confucius, And Other Poems |  |
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THE RETURN OF THE GODS.
‘Greece so thoroughly wrought out its conception of the beautiful human animal as to make an idol of it, and in order to glorify it on earth they made a divinity of it in heaven.’—
The Philosophy of Art, by H. Taine.
LIKE one who looks over a city when day is beginning to break,
I look o'er the million-homed age where we live, in the dusk of the dawn,
Seeing the sunlight on steeples, or edging the turrets and towers,
While the streets and the low-lying houses are grey in the gloaming or gloom.
Light in the eye of the thinker; light on the brow of the wise,
Dimmering shade in the spirit of him who is hopeless and low.
I look o'er the million-homed age where we live, in the dusk of the dawn,
Seeing the sunlight on steeples, or edging the turrets and towers,
While the streets and the low-lying houses are grey in the gloaming or gloom.
Light in the eye of the thinker; light on the brow of the wise,
Dimmering shade in the spirit of him who is hopeless and low.
But far on the fire-flashing mountains which circle the town of the time
Flame brighter and higher the glories, though deeper and grander the gloom.
Like gods freshly set on the summits, just resting a moment, but soon
To sweep down the sides to the valleys, and conquer the giants of night.
Yes, they are coming in glory again to resplendour the world,
The gods whom we thought were long-perished: Olympus is coming again.
Flame brighter and higher the glories, though deeper and grander the gloom.
Like gods freshly set on the summits, just resting a moment, but soon
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Yes, they are coming in glory again to resplendour the world,
The gods whom we thought were long-perished: Olympus is coming again.
In the roar of the terrible engine, in boats which go onward by steam,
Or the pathways of iron extending from ocean to ocean unbent,
In bridges once buried, deep hidden, now binding the summits of cliffs;
In wheels which are whirling for ever to multiply comfort for man:
All this but the little beginning—all this but the mustard-seed small;
When all is unfolded, oh Vulcan, wilt thou not be with us again?
Or the pathways of iron extending from ocean to ocean unbent,
In bridges once buried, deep hidden, now binding the summits of cliffs;
In wheels which are whirling for ever to multiply comfort for man:
All this but the little beginning—all this but the mustard-seed small;
When all is unfolded, oh Vulcan, wilt thou not be with us again?
When Genius in infinite channels, when Labour with infinite might
Shall have solved all the problems we dream of, while solving, creating anew;
When the branches while further diverging send quicker the sap to the root
And the highest adventurous blossom feels deepest its part in the whole,
Will Man then believe in his power, and, scorning the petty and vile,
Be grand in his power creative and Vulcan be with us again?
Shall have solved all the problems we dream of, while solving, creating anew;
When the branches while further diverging send quicker the sap to the root
And the highest adventurous blossom feels deepest its part in the whole,
Will Man then believe in his power, and, scorning the petty and vile,
Be grand in his power creative and Vulcan be with us again?
Phul Khan—Tubal Cain—the Fire Monarch—first king and first master of Iron!
They could not dispense with the blacksmith, the smith who by right was a god
And the right-hand of every warrior, yes, even the master of Mars;
But they shamed him and lamed him, those proud ones, and punished him with his reward.
Now he cometh, he cometh in glory, his lameness and shame are removed,
And Art in its union with Beauty shines brighter with Honour and Pride.
They could not dispense with the blacksmith, the smith who by right was a god
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But they shamed him and lamed him, those proud ones, and punished him with his reward.
Now he cometh, he cometh in glory, his lameness and shame are removed,
And Art in its union with Beauty shines brighter with Honour and Pride.
Venus, the life of the lovely—soul of the exquisite charm!
Thou hast done penance for ages, as we thy poor children have done.
Short was the carnival season in the gay god-land of Greece,
Few were the guests at the banquet,—brief was the life of the flowers,
Long was the Lent which came after,—bitter the wailing and woe;—
But the trial was good for the mourners,—it humbled the cruel and proud,
It raised up the humble and fallen,—gave spirit and strength to the poor,
And is freeing from slavery Woman,—the slave of all ages gone by.
Thou hast done penance for ages, as we thy poor children have done.
Short was the carnival season in the gay god-land of Greece,
Few were the guests at the banquet,—brief was the life of the flowers,
Long was the Lent which came after,—bitter the wailing and woe;—
But the trial was good for the mourners,—it humbled the cruel and proud,
It raised up the humble and fallen,—gave spirit and strength to the poor,
And is freeing from slavery Woman,—the slave of all ages gone by.
Enough of the sackcloth and ashes,—enough of the penance and pain,
Enough of deep woe for the Many and feverish joy for the Few;
Joy which defeats its own wishes and struggles in hard narrow rounds
Ignoring the truth that great Pleasure demands the great concourse of All.
Oh, Mother of rapture and Beauty—thou too hast done penance in grief,
Thou did'st rise from the Ocean in glory, red glowing to kiss the warm sun!
Short were the luscious embraces—cold blew the wind from the North,
Thou fell'st in sad tears from Heaven, and on earth wert a torrent of tears.
Enough of deep woe for the Many and feverish joy for the Few;
Joy which defeats its own wishes and struggles in hard narrow rounds
Ignoring the truth that great Pleasure demands the great concourse of All.
Oh, Mother of rapture and Beauty—thou too hast done penance in grief,
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Short were the luscious embraces—cold blew the wind from the North,
Thou fell'st in sad tears from Heaven, and on earth wert a torrent of tears.
Now in comfort, with justice and beauty and freedom for woman and man,
Thou wilt rise in a rosier glory, and light every soul with a ray.
For when Man shall have learned that the spirit of Sin is but trespass and pain,
Trespass and pain on his fellow, or idle neglect of his own,
And that Pleasure which injures none other and wounds not the spirit of truth,
Has nothing in common with Evil and touches none other but Self,
Then thou wilt be with us, sweet Mother, and charm every soul with thy smile,
Raising to Art all our labour—and Love be the life of the world.
Thou wilt rise in a rosier glory, and light every soul with a ray.
For when Man shall have learned that the spirit of Sin is but trespass and pain,
Trespass and pain on his fellow, or idle neglect of his own,
And that Pleasure which injures none other and wounds not the spirit of truth,
Has nothing in common with Evil and touches none other but Self,
Then thou wilt be with us, sweet Mother, and charm every soul with thy smile,
Raising to Art all our labour—and Love be the life of the world.
Mars, the magnificent master of warfare with foes to the gods,
Brilliant and bold and unbending thou too wilt rise on with the rest,
For the progress of Man is the progress of gods in the infinite scale,
He who lifts up the spear to do battle lifts also the pennon and steel.
And though the point shine in the sunlight or gleam in the glory of war,
Far over the head of the knight, it must wait till the wood has been raised.
While Man is deep buried in valleys his gods live on mountains above,
When he reaches the silvery summits they dwell in the gold of the sky.
Brilliant and bold and unbending thou too wilt rise on with the rest,
For the progress of Man is the progress of gods in the infinite scale,
He who lifts up the spear to do battle lifts also the pennon and steel.
And though the point shine in the sunlight or gleam in the glory of war,
Far over the head of the knight, it must wait till the wood has been raised.
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When he reaches the silvery summits they dwell in the gold of the sky.
No more the Messiah of Murder will Mars be the terror of Man,
No longer the dread of the lowly, the bravo exulting in blood.
For in the great Fight of the Future our foes will be mightier far
Than men of mere sinew and muscle,—those foes which lie silent around;—
The rugged rock-giants denying the room for existence to all,
The awful deep Dragon of Ocean still keeping in secret its plains,
And the solemn blue space yet unconquered which parts us from numberless stars,
And the Fire-Land which burns in our centre,—these foes still await thee, oh Mars!
No longer the dread of the lowly, the bravo exulting in blood.
For in the great Fight of the Future our foes will be mightier far
Than men of mere sinew and muscle,—those foes which lie silent around;—
The rugged rock-giants denying the room for existence to all,
The awful deep Dragon of Ocean still keeping in secret its plains,
And the solemn blue space yet unconquered which parts us from numberless stars,
And the Fire-Land which burns in our centre,—these foes still await thee, oh Mars!
For the doctor who drives out diseases or shortens the power of death,
And the teacher who quickens the spirit and conquers the darkness of crime,
The poet who blesses with beauty the soul which was gloomy and grey,
The builder, the chemist, the workman, are warriors each in their way:
For what were the Jotuns and Titans o'erwhelmed by the gods of the Past
But the forces of fire and of mountains,—the giants we are fighting to-day?
Fighting more bravely than ever—fighting with better success:—
Oh Mars, thou wert in the first battle—in the victory be by our side!
And the teacher who quickens the spirit and conquers the darkness of crime,
The poet who blesses with beauty the soul which was gloomy and grey,
The builder, the chemist, the workman, are warriors each in their way:
For what were the Jotuns and Titans o'erwhelmed by the gods of the Past
But the forces of fire and of mountains,—the giants we are fighting to-day?
Fighting more bravely than ever—fighting with better success:—
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I know that the swift-footed Hermes will soon be beloved again,
For already Man finds with strange rapture he holds more than Mercury's power,
More than the might which was fabled to be that of Hermes of old,
When he touches the telegraph deftly and talks over oceans afar,
As we go faster in motion; faster in thought and in speech,
Quicker in means of conveying and shortening the path of ideas
Life will be lengthened while growing, for Thought is the measure of life:
He who speaks or does most in a little is Mercury's son and himself.
For already Man finds with strange rapture he holds more than Mercury's power,
More than the might which was fabled to be that of Hermes of old,
When he touches the telegraph deftly and talks over oceans afar,
As we go faster in motion; faster in thought and in speech,
Quicker in means of conveying and shortening the path of ideas
Life will be lengthened while growing, for Thought is the measure of life:
He who speaks or does most in a little is Mercury's son and himself.
And with Labour and Love and with Conquest and Speed all the rest will be won,
With Vulcan and Venus, and Ares, and Hermes fast darting afar:
For Apollo with Muses and Graces—the exquisite children of Art—
And the sense of the Lovely in Nature as shown in a myriad gods,
All these are just hovering round us, awaiting a place in our hearts,
Not as wearied-out forms of a worship which faded long ages ago,
But as the fresh life of all worship, renewed in Man's faith in himself:
The Man who has risen to Greatness was never yet wanting in gods.
With Vulcan and Venus, and Ares, and Hermes fast darting afar:
For Apollo with Muses and Graces—the exquisite children of Art—
And the sense of the Lovely in Nature as shown in a myriad gods,
All these are just hovering round us, awaiting a place in our hearts,
Not as wearied-out forms of a worship which faded long ages ago,
But as the fresh life of all worship, renewed in Man's faith in himself:
The Man who has risen to Greatness was never yet wanting in gods.
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Do your hearts enter into my meaning, ye thinkers who list to my song?
Do you feel that we come to religion in quitting the vulgar and mean?
And that Man when he lives in the glory of conquest and knows he is great
Soon learns that the power of crushing the Time-worn means this—to be free,
Freedom with power creative, Greatness with Beauty and Love,
Was, is, and shall be for ever, the Godlike in spirit and truth.
And be it in smoke upon Sinai, in temples and statues in Greece,
Or walking by Galilee's waters, the noble is ever a god.
Do you feel that we come to religion in quitting the vulgar and mean?
And that Man when he lives in the glory of conquest and knows he is great
Soon learns that the power of crushing the Time-worn means this—to be free,
Freedom with power creative, Greatness with Beauty and Love,
Was, is, and shall be for ever, the Godlike in spirit and truth.
And be it in smoke upon Sinai, in temples and statues in Greece,
Or walking by Galilee's waters, the noble is ever a god.
Grander than Plato or Hegel, greater than Bacon or Comte,
Is faith in a noble endeavour, the power to rise to the New:
And the scorn of the ancient Egyptian; of Hermes, for those who but live
For idle self-will and dull pleasure—the million who nothing create,
In the downward-born elements whirling away from the centre of God—
Is the first of the wonderful chapter, long written and yet to be writ,
Which told and will tell how the dawning drove darkness away from the world,
And how the small sneer of the Devil was lost in God's infinite smile.
Is faith in a noble endeavour, the power to rise to the New:
And the scorn of the ancient Egyptian; of Hermes, for those who but live
For idle self-will and dull pleasure—the million who nothing create,
In the downward-born elements whirling away from the centre of God—
Is the first of the wonderful chapter, long written and yet to be writ,
Which told and will tell how the dawning drove darkness away from the world,
And how the small sneer of the Devil was lost in God's infinite smile.
This is the coming of Zeus—of Jove, the imperial lord!
And of Juno his wife and his sister—the greatest are ever akin—
That Man shall find out he is noble—this knowing he finds out a god
And the glory of God will be with him when dignity blesses his life.
Esculapius teaches the lesson—the purest of blood are most free,
In strains without taint of disorder the nearest come ever more near:
The souls which live Jove-like in calmness progress in perfecting their type;
What Satan and folly have hidden, will rise in the ages to come.
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That Man shall find out he is noble—this knowing he finds out a god
And the glory of God will be with him when dignity blesses his life.
Esculapius teaches the lesson—the purest of blood are most free,
In strains without taint of disorder the nearest come ever more near:
The souls which live Jove-like in calmness progress in perfecting their type;
What Satan and folly have hidden, will rise in the ages to come.
‘How shall we see the Immortals, and when shall we know they are come?
In Greece we beheld them in statues—unmoving immortals in stone:
Closed in a book in Judea—frozen and centred in One,
Blooming again into Many which flowed from the mythical Three,
And burst into wide-flashing rainbows of colour and legend and song
When the wonderful age mediæval threw pictures all over the world?—’
Not in statues or books or in pictures, or churches or legends or song
Will ye see the great gods of your worship whose footsteps are sounding afar.
In Greece we beheld them in statues—unmoving immortals in stone:
Closed in a book in Judea—frozen and centred in One,
Blooming again into Many which flowed from the mythical Three,
And burst into wide-flashing rainbows of colour and legend and song
When the wonderful age mediæval threw pictures all over the world?—’
Not in statues or books or in pictures, or churches or legends or song
Will ye see the great gods of your worship whose footsteps are sounding afar.
Ah no;—in yourselves will ye see them, when Venus shall favour your love,
And man, fitly mated with woman, believes that his love is divine:
When Passion shall elevate Woman to something so holy and grand,
That she—the ideal enraptured—shall ne'er be a check upon Man,
Then the children they bear will be holy, and Beauty shall make them her own,
And Man in the eyes of his neighbour will gaze on the reflex divine
Of the God he inclines to in spirit—or trace in each feature and limb
The lines which the body inherits from souls which are noble and true.
And man, fitly mated with woman, believes that his love is divine:
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That she—the ideal enraptured—shall ne'er be a check upon Man,
Then the children they bear will be holy, and Beauty shall make them her own,
And Man in the eyes of his neighbour will gaze on the reflex divine
Of the God he inclines to in spirit—or trace in each feature and limb
The lines which the body inherits from souls which are noble and true.
Would thou could'st feel in deep earnest, how beautiful God will be then,
When we see him as Jove or Apollo in men who inspire us with love,
As Juno and Venus the holy, in women who know not the mean,
And feel not the influence cruel of hardness and self-love and scorn.
Would thou could'st once know how real the presence of God will become,
How earnest and ever more earnest thy faith when thyself shall be great,
And from the true worship of others thou'lt learn what is holy in them,
And rise to the infinite fountain of glory which flows in us all.
When we see him as Jove or Apollo in men who inspire us with love,
As Juno and Venus the holy, in women who know not the mean,
And feel not the influence cruel of hardness and self-love and scorn.
Would thou could'st once know how real the presence of God will become,
How earnest and ever more earnest thy faith when thyself shall be great,
And from the true worship of others thou'lt learn what is holy in them,
And rise to the infinite fountain of glory which flows in us all.
But when shall we see the Immortals?—believe me—whenever ye will
They are near us, around us, within us, awaiting our wish and our word.
More than thy dreams ever pictured, more than thy heart ever dreamed,
Will pour in increasing abundance on him who has freedom and faith;
Freedom from meanness and harshness—faith in the Godhood within—
The ore lies before us in mountains—we've power to change it to gold:—
Be to thyself what thou lovest, and others will be unto thee
What thou wilt. When in God thou believest near God thou wilt certainly be!
They are near us, around us, within us, awaiting our wish and our word.
More than thy dreams ever pictured, more than thy heart ever dreamed,
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Freedom from meanness and harshness—faith in the Godhood within—
The ore lies before us in mountains—we've power to change it to gold:—
Be to thyself what thou lovest, and others will be unto thee
What thou wilt. When in God thou believest near God thou wilt certainly be!
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