 | Mansoul or The Riddle of the World |  |
But in our Vision, ever hurried forth;
Being hidden fróm our sight the shipmans star:
We wiss not, under what Worlds coasts we are.
When first we might contain our flitting steps:
We inhuman Plain perceive, in Merlins glass;
Of cold and darkness, daughters of bleak Night.
Land trodden down of hoofs, cart-villages;
Of Tatar hordes, milk-nourished of their mares.
Which passed, upleaning in a calm divine;
We unknówn enránged vast mountains underran.
They, our glass shows, confine ón and compass in,
Great land-breadths green. And lo! much-peopled Region;
Which Seres our sires named, of aspect strange:
Full of fields' tilth, rife villages ánd great towns.
Much toilful husband-folk, regarding wide,
Bent under burdens, like to beasts of charge;
Men clothed in silk, we see go ín large glebe.
And presently hím, whom mirrored we have sought;
By great good hap, we eyed, in a field path;
Kung the wise-hearted, loitering nót far off:
As was his custom, on a country-side;
Mongst the Lands commons, ancient of mild mood.
With few in company, his scholars, Kung fares thus;
With comely gravity on, from State to State:
Seeking some Prince, which should reform the Time;
Conformably with what précepts he sets forth;
Of virtue, ingénerate in all human breasts.
Who him súe, wait on Kungs sayings, observe his looks;
Whose gaze demiss, is fastened on the ground.
And oft as Kung wends pensive, he recites,
Some Old World lays, and sáyings of antique sages.
And like as child seeks tó his fathers arms;
They of Kung, in each new hap, as aught befalls;
Enquire some new Instruction, fór their lives;
In reverent wise.
Nor seld that Wise-sayer toucheth,
The tuneful lute, he alway bare in hand.
When, ón those dreaming strings, Kung softly plays:
Them seemeth they hear, celestial harmonies.
Whereúnto should a man attúne his being.
Kung, ín his progress, stays; he on us gazed!
And, Strangers, quoth, of other Land than ours;
What seek ye? And how, not yet disbodied spirits;
Found ye éntry ínto our Mid-Kingdom here?
Mansoul.
Long-time we sought, in living World, Truth-Sayer,
Heavens oraclés. And entrance having found,
To Ages of the Earth, laid up beneath:
Wisdom and saving Knowledge, ín right paths;
We of thém likewise enquire.
Kung.
Kung said; and wéary in going, his trembling rote,
Tempered: and tó his waked strings' áccords, quoth;
(Words partly heard, whiles wé drew further forth:)
Crumble the hills, each master-beam shall break:
And who seek after Wisdom; ás a plant,
Must likewise perish.
We, whom Herthas Voice,
Hath hithertó unnumbered leagues conveyed;
Nigh spent our spirits, wayfáre now long last stage.
Ends then, in vast blind Cirque, our outward course:
Wherein those devious paths, we lately trode;
Returning ón themselves, in spires, ascend.
Being hidden fróm our sight the shipmans star:
We wiss not, under what Worlds coasts we are.
When first we might contain our flitting steps:
70
Of cold and darkness, daughters of bleak Night.
Land trodden down of hoofs, cart-villages;
Of Tatar hordes, milk-nourished of their mares.
Which passed, upleaning in a calm divine;
We unknówn enránged vast mountains underran.
They, our glass shows, confine ón and compass in,
Great land-breadths green. And lo! much-peopled Region;
Which Seres our sires named, of aspect strange:
Full of fields' tilth, rife villages ánd great towns.
Much toilful husband-folk, regarding wide,
Bent under burdens, like to beasts of charge;
Men clothed in silk, we see go ín large glebe.
And presently hím, whom mirrored we have sought;
By great good hap, we eyed, in a field path;
Kung the wise-hearted, loitering nót far off:
As was his custom, on a country-side;
Mongst the Lands commons, ancient of mild mood.
With comely gravity on, from State to State:
71
Conformably with what précepts he sets forth;
Of virtue, ingénerate in all human breasts.
Who him súe, wait on Kungs sayings, observe his looks;
Whose gaze demiss, is fastened on the ground.
And oft as Kung wends pensive, he recites,
Some Old World lays, and sáyings of antique sages.
And like as child seeks tó his fathers arms;
They of Kung, in each new hap, as aught befalls;
Enquire some new Instruction, fór their lives;
In reverent wise.
Nor seld that Wise-sayer toucheth,
The tuneful lute, he alway bare in hand.
When, ón those dreaming strings, Kung softly plays:
Them seemeth they hear, celestial harmonies.
Whereúnto should a man attúne his being.
Kung, ín his progress, stays; he on us gazed!
And, Strangers, quoth, of other Land than ours;
What seek ye? And how, not yet disbodied spirits;
Found ye éntry ínto our Mid-Kingdom here?
Mansoul.
Long-time we sought, in living World, Truth-Sayer,
72
To Ages of the Earth, laid up beneath:
Wisdom and saving Knowledge, ín right paths;
We of thém likewise enquire.
Kung.
I enter not,
In things too hígh for me. Mán was born upríght.
Obey heavens hests, which written are on all hearts.
Whoso hath purged his ówn and burnished bright,
Shall read them there. Eschew all crooked paths.
In whátso Land thou comest; observe thou there
Mens customs, and obey that Countrys Laws;
Which shadows be óf things heavenly on the Earth;
And testimony of the Gods.
In things too hígh for me. Mán was born upríght.
Obey heavens hests, which written are on all hearts.
Whoso hath purged his ówn and burnished bright,
Shall read them there. Eschew all crooked paths.
In whátso Land thou comest; observe thou there
Mens customs, and obey that Countrys Laws;
Which shadows be óf things heavenly on the Earth;
And testimony of the Gods.
Watch furthermore,
To bridle all blind affections of gross flesh;
Not kill, for then the human World must cease,
Two selves war in Mans being: the high Intent;
That walketh in Truth; this sue, souls comeliness:
And that suppress, the Beast beneath the breast.
Harbour ne'er in thy spirit a baneful thought.
Measure, benevolence, grace and harmony:
These be the fruits, the wares, the ornaments;
Where Reason rules of every righteous breast.
To bridle all blind affections of gross flesh;
Not kill, for then the human World must cease,
Two selves war in Mans being: the high Intent;
That walketh in Truth; this sue, souls comeliness:
And that suppress, the Beast beneath the breast.
Harbour ne'er in thy spirit a baneful thought.
Measure, benevolence, grace and harmony:
These be the fruits, the wares, the ornaments;
Where Reason rules of every righteous breast.
73
Tempered: and tó his waked strings' áccords, quoth;
(Words partly heard, whiles wé drew further forth:)
Crumble the hills, each master-beam shall break:
And who seek after Wisdom; ás a plant,
Must likewise perish.
We, whom Herthas Voice,
Hath hithertó unnumbered leagues conveyed;
Nigh spent our spirits, wayfáre now long last stage.
Ends then, in vast blind Cirque, our outward course:
Wherein those devious paths, we lately trode;
Returning ón themselves, in spires, ascend.
| Mansoul or The Riddle of the World | |