Poems By Alfred Domett |
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THE “LAND O' THE LEAL.” |
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121
THE “LAND O' THE LEAL.”
“There's nae sorrow there, Jean,
There's neither cauld nor care, Jean,
In the Land o' the Leal!”
Scotch Song.
There's neither cauld nor care, Jean,
In the Land o' the Leal!”
Scotch Song.
Και τοτε, ως εοικεν, ημιν εσται ου επιθυμουμεν τε και φαμεν
ερασται ειναι, φρονησεως—επειδαν τελευτησωμεν, ζωσι δε ου.
Plato: Phœdon.
Oh what a strange and a wonderous thing
It will be when the Soul from its earth-home takes wing,
And changes this narrow and darksome place
For the limitless spread of Etherial Space!
It will be when the Soul from its earth-home takes wing,
And changes this narrow and darksome place
For the limitless spread of Etherial Space!
When it steals from its trammels of cumbersome clay
And wakes in the subtle void—far, far, away,
And marvels awe-struck what the hush of the scene,
And the vast and mysterious loneliness mean!
And wakes in the subtle void—far, far, away,
And marvels awe-struck what the hush of the scene,
And the vast and mysterious loneliness mean!
As the flame of the taper you thrust unaware
In a chamber surcharged with inflammable air,
Expands all at once to an atmosphere bright
Of wide-spreading blaze, a volume of light—
In a chamber surcharged with inflammable air,
Expands all at once to an atmosphere bright
Of wide-spreading blaze, a volume of light—
Will the spark of the Soul, half-stifled in clay,
Thus dilate as it springs into measureless Day,
And spread with the rush of a Banner unfurled,
To the furthermost range of the spiritual world?
Thus dilate as it springs into measureless Day,
And spread with the rush of a Banner unfurled,
To the furthermost range of the spiritual world?
122
Will it silently float on its wondering way,
The strange and the secret by turns to survey?
Or burst into Being of boundless expanse,
And drink all the Universe in with a glance?
The strange and the secret by turns to survey?
Or burst into Being of boundless expanse,
And drink all the Universe in with a glance?
Will it bid a farewell to the Sky and the Sun,
And the Stars, that in glory and mystery run—
Like fire-flies glancing through cloud-woven bowers,
Or golden hail driving in dazzling showers—
And the Stars, that in glory and mystery run—
Like fire-flies glancing through cloud-woven bowers,
Or golden hail driving in dazzling showers—
And the many-hued awning of Cloud spread on high,
Which shuts o'er the globe, like the lid o'er its eye?
And the dark-bright Earth with her dœdal dress,
And her changes on changes of loveliness?
Which shuts o'er the globe, like the lid o'er its eye?
And the dark-bright Earth with her dœdal dress,
And her changes on changes of loveliness?
Will it nevermore list to the deep melody
Which she hums as she flies, like a murmuring bee—
The music she whirls to, which ceaseth never,
The chaunt of the wind and the chime of the river?
Which she hums as she flies, like a murmuring bee—
The music she whirls to, which ceaseth never,
The chaunt of the wind and the chime of the river?
Oh what will the Soul be where matter is none—
The visible, audible, tangible gone—
Where Mind is the only Existence, and nought
Is remaining but senseless and bodiless Thought?
The visible, audible, tangible gone—
Where Mind is the only Existence, and nought
Is remaining but senseless and bodiless Thought?
123
Will it be through Eternity radiantly shrined
In a cloud of pure brightness undefined,
Like the formless flood of silvery light
Which hides the Sun's orb in winter white?
In a cloud of pure brightness undefined,
Like the formless flood of silvery light
Which hides the Sun's orb in winter white?
Or revel in all that sweet Poesy breathes
Of Elysium—ambrosia—and amaranth wreathes?
All that is joyous and all that is bright—
The sapphire—the onyx—the chrysolite?
Of Elysium—ambrosia—and amaranth wreathes?
All that is joyous and all that is bright—
The sapphire—the onyx—the chrysolite?
The emerald-green, resplendent bowers—
The crystal streams—the unfading flowers—
All refined from the grossness they wear below
To a mellow, transparent, etherial glow!
The crystal streams—the unfading flowers—
All refined from the grossness they wear below
To a mellow, transparent, etherial glow!
And the towers heaped up like the silvery piles
Of sun-lit clouds when the summer smiles;—
And the pearly domes, and the long colonnades,
And the softer gleams of their gem-lit shades!
Of sun-lit clouds when the summer smiles;—
And the pearly domes, and the long colonnades,
And the softer gleams of their gem-lit shades!
And the diamond-roofs raining their blinding rays;
And the fretwork alive with a rainbow blaze;
And the tall aisles that shoot far far away,
Built of radiance that moves with a flitting play;
And the fretwork alive with a rainbow blaze;
And the tall aisles that shoot far far away,
Built of radiance that moves with a flitting play;
And the wide sea of Spirits that dazzle the sight,
And their Crowns that quiver and flash with light,
All violet-dark as the Sun's disk may be With the depth of their liquid brilliancy!
And their Crowns that quiver and flash with light,
All violet-dark as the Sun's disk may be With the depth of their liquid brilliancy!
124
And the bright jasper-pavement
that mirror-like flings,
From its surface the hues of the Seraphim's wings,
Whose glossy and changing green, rich-blue and gold
Would make all the plumage of Earth dim and cold!
From its surface the hues of the Seraphim's wings,
Whose glossy and changing green, rich-blue and gold
Would make all the plumage of Earth dim and cold!
And the harmonies floating through all Time and Space,
That in beauty breathe on though their birth none may trace;
For Music once made shall exist evermore,
Nor in Silence, its Death, fade away as before!
That in beauty breathe on though their birth none may trace;
For Music once made shall exist evermore,
Nor in Silence, its Death, fade away as before!
And the ever-new songs of the Cherubim choirs;
And the thrilling throb of their golden lyres;
And the floating flush of the fragrant air,
And the melodies ringing everywhere!
And the thrilling throb of their golden lyres;
And the floating flush of the fragrant air,
And the melodies ringing everywhere!
We know not—we guess not—how these things may be;
The rapture to feel—and the glory to see!
We only conceive that Repose will be there,
Unbroken by sorrow—uncankered by care!
The rapture to feel—and the glory to see!
We only conceive that Repose will be there,
Unbroken by sorrow—uncankered by care!
There the bud of our Reason shall perfectly blow,
And reveal all we darklingly ponder below—
All that we hear, and all that we see,
In the light of a lovely consistency!
And reveal all we darklingly ponder below—
All that we hear, and all that we see,
In the light of a lovely consistency!
125
And that mournful questioning
never again
Shall arise—which makes Admiration a Pain,
From the mystery mantling the Death and the Birth
Of everything beautiful here on Earth!
Shall arise—which makes Admiration a Pain,
From the mystery mantling the Death and the Birth
Of everything beautiful here on Earth!
There the bitter and sad shall for ever be gone,
And the Pleasaunce of Sorrow be tasted alone;
And Memory, Hope, and Possession unite
In one deep gush of serene delight!
And the Pleasaunce of Sorrow be tasted alone;
And Memory, Hope, and Possession unite
In one deep gush of serene delight!
Memory—unpoisoned by sad regret;
And Hope, by no doubts, no fears beset—
Possession enduring, and never to cloy—
Condensed to a crisis eternal of joy!
And Hope, by no doubts, no fears beset—
Possession enduring, and never to cloy—
Condensed to a crisis eternal of joy!
There the Will and the Power together shall flow;
Hand in hand with Fulfilment Desire shall go!
Disappointment and Grief shall not enter there,
And Pride and Ambition be banished elsewhere!
Hand in hand with Fulfilment Desire shall go!
Disappointment and Grief shall not enter there,
And Pride and Ambition be banished elsewhere!
Oh for a taste of that Calm of the breast—
That dreamy sleep of a brilliant Rest!
For a moment of that world's moony bliss,
To quiet the turmoil and fever of this!
That dreamy sleep of a brilliant Rest!
For a moment of that world's moony bliss,
To quiet the turmoil and fever of this!
126
What is Death, what is Death, then, if he will explain
All the doubts that so restlessly harass the brain?
And where is the gloom of the terrorless Tomb,
If its shadows the clouds of the Mind will illume?—
All the doubts that so restlessly harass the brain?
And where is the gloom of the terrorless Tomb,
If its shadows the clouds of the Mind will illume?—
Like the darkened approach to a grotto spar-bright,
Is the dark path of Death to the regions of Light;
And its palpable Night but the foil may be
To the sparkles that gem Eternity!
Is the dark path of Death to the regions of Light;
And its palpable Night but the foil may be
To the sparkles that gem Eternity!
Then let Life fade away with its glimmering sheen,
For the Night must rush down e'er the Stars can be seen,
We shall leave only weariness, languor at best,
And meet undisturbed, eternal Rest!
For the Night must rush down e'er the Stars can be seen,
We shall leave only weariness, languor at best,
And meet undisturbed, eternal Rest!
Christmas, 1831.
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