 | Tiresias |  |
BOOK I. TIRESIAS.
Pallas Athena, perfect, powerful, Wise!
As Gods revered art thou, O Chariclo;
And less of mortal than a life divine;
At all times having served Her lofty hest.
Therefore, O Mother, soothed by thee to peace,
I on thy bosom weeping dare disclose
The story of my blindness born of light.
As Gods revered art thou, O Chariclo;
And less of mortal than a life divine;
At all times having served Her lofty hest.
Therefore, O Mother, soothed by thee to peace,
I on thy bosom weeping dare disclose
The story of my blindness born of light.
Half the day long had I been in pursuit
Of one wide-antlered stag, that oftentimes
Passed me within an easy range, or stood
Proudly at gaze, prick-eared, snuffing the wind.
Oft raised my bended bow; but ere I drew
The arrow backward to its biting point,
I paused for pity, as the creature bent
His clear full gaze on mine: and ever he
Within these lapses turned from me and fled.
At length this faltering in my hunter craft
So shamed my practice I unstrung my bow,
And thought of home: but first the Fates decreed
My feet to wander into ways obscure;
Between gaunt rocks, and overshadowing trees
Whose twisting rootage gripped the rocks like prey;
By shrubs whose shrewd incline seemed questioning;
Where rills thro' clefts came spurting in disdain,
Then vanished haughtily amid the flowers
That peered with saucy looks or sidewise smile;
All seeming aliens in my native land,
And I intrusive on their privacy;
While thro' the silence of the steadfast woods,
Afar-off, sad, one solitary croak
Was answered by another more remote.
What meant this daylight mystery, and murk
Of cloying, dull stagnation in my blood?
Had I given chase to hart of Artemis,
And angering Her, the Huntress keen, been smit
With lifelong tremor for unconscious crime?
A grim high-shouldered boar of shining tusks,
And graceful fir-tree, young, with slender shoots,
Must straightway be my offering at Her shrine,
While, contrite, meekly I beseech Her grace!
Of one wide-antlered stag, that oftentimes
Passed me within an easy range, or stood
Proudly at gaze, prick-eared, snuffing the wind.
Oft raised my bended bow; but ere I drew
The arrow backward to its biting point,
2
His clear full gaze on mine: and ever he
Within these lapses turned from me and fled.
At length this faltering in my hunter craft
So shamed my practice I unstrung my bow,
And thought of home: but first the Fates decreed
My feet to wander into ways obscure;
Between gaunt rocks, and overshadowing trees
Whose twisting rootage gripped the rocks like prey;
By shrubs whose shrewd incline seemed questioning;
Where rills thro' clefts came spurting in disdain,
Then vanished haughtily amid the flowers
That peered with saucy looks or sidewise smile;
All seeming aliens in my native land,
And I intrusive on their privacy;
While thro' the silence of the steadfast woods,
Afar-off, sad, one solitary croak
Was answered by another more remote.
3
Of cloying, dull stagnation in my blood?
Had I given chase to hart of Artemis,
And angering Her, the Huntress keen, been smit
With lifelong tremor for unconscious crime?
A grim high-shouldered boar of shining tusks,
And graceful fir-tree, young, with slender shoots,
Must straightway be my offering at Her shrine,
While, contrite, meekly I beseech Her grace!
This reverent spirit, Mother, nerved my strength
Like breezes from the sea, and bore me on
Where lay the land, whose favouring bosom beat
All tremulous, there welcoming with smiles
To her embrace the ardent gazing sun;
And, looking back, I saw the woodland wane
To blank and vanish into mist away.
Like breezes from the sea, and bore me on
Where lay the land, whose favouring bosom beat
All tremulous, there welcoming with smiles
To her embrace the ardent gazing sun;
And, looking back, I saw the woodland wane
To blank and vanish into mist away.
In newborn exaltation, as tho' wings
Lifting my brows had raised me from myself,
I came to where a yawning ridged ravine,
Rill-streaked, and breathing vapour, closed in gloom.
Adown this ridged descent I leapt my way,
Certain of footfall, lightly as a bird.
Thro' tangled bushes thralled in eglantine
I strove unbaffled, when a vale of grass,
Quivering in flower and parted by a stream,
That bore the sunshine on its winding way,
With sudden beauty held me motionless.
Why went I not a down-stream wanderer,
Pacing in measure to the river-song?
Fate, with resistless hand then clasping mine,
Enticed me upward, and ordained that I
Never again might wander with the flow!
On in pleased conflict with the thronging flowers,
Taking their golden tribute as I went;
Across fresh rillets innocently clear;
Grass, laced with thyme and smiles of gold and blue,
To where I saw a rocky headland cleave
The river's margin and oppose advance.
Abruptly rose its smouldering naked flank,
And reached a forest where Titanic growth
Lay mixed in darkness with a world of cloud,
That eagles haunted circling till they poised,
And quitted not their station in the sky.
My heart, as tho' unleashed, sprang in my breast
And checked my breath, “For there great Zeus,” I knew,
“Or Pallas, His great daughter, was below,
Their eagles watching Them!”
4
I came to where a yawning ridged ravine,
Rill-streaked, and breathing vapour, closed in gloom.
Adown this ridged descent I leapt my way,
Certain of footfall, lightly as a bird.
Thro' tangled bushes thralled in eglantine
I strove unbaffled, when a vale of grass,
Quivering in flower and parted by a stream,
That bore the sunshine on its winding way,
With sudden beauty held me motionless.
Why went I not a down-stream wanderer,
Pacing in measure to the river-song?
Fate, with resistless hand then clasping mine,
Enticed me upward, and ordained that I
Never again might wander with the flow!
On in pleased conflict with the thronging flowers,
Taking their golden tribute as I went;
Across fresh rillets innocently clear;
Grass, laced with thyme and smiles of gold and blue,
5
The river's margin and oppose advance.
Abruptly rose its smouldering naked flank,
And reached a forest where Titanic growth
Lay mixed in darkness with a world of cloud,
That eagles haunted circling till they poised,
And quitted not their station in the sky.
My heart, as tho' unleashed, sprang in my breast
And checked my breath, “For there great Zeus,” I knew,
“Or Pallas, His great daughter, was below,
Their eagles watching Them!”
Audaciously
Skirting the rock, I trod a crescent lawn
Of brilliant emerald, screened by shadowy trees;
Then, while in marvel why so quenched and lone
I shrank in precincts of Elysian calm,
I heard a wondrous splash, as tho' some wing
Had struck the water with a sudden beat.
Awe-smitten, kneeling in bewildered fear,
I felt the presence of a God.
Skirting the rock, I trod a crescent lawn
Of brilliant emerald, screened by shadowy trees;
Then, while in marvel why so quenched and lone
I shrank in precincts of Elysian calm,
I heard a wondrous splash, as tho' some wing
Had struck the water with a sudden beat.
6
I felt the presence of a God.
Lo, high,
Leaning against an oak, Athena's spear
Pulsed fiercely, edge and point! The golden scales
That guard Her breast, a shimmering net of flame,
Lay with Her garment by the Gorgon shield,
Its visage turned in mercy toward the tree.
But how to tell of great Athena's Self,
When She in overwhelming stately power,
With light inscrutable, before me shone!
Leaning against an oak, Athena's spear
Pulsed fiercely, edge and point! The golden scales
That guard Her breast, a shimmering net of flame,
Lay with Her garment by the Gorgon shield,
Its visage turned in mercy toward the tree.
But how to tell of great Athena's Self,
When She in overwhelming stately power,
With light inscrutable, before me shone!
Resplendent from the water, on the grass,
Within a shower of trembling sparkles She
Stood wringing out the river from Her hair.
Stretching Her hand to shake the drops away,
She showed the length, the strength, the rounded glow
Of beauty gleaming in Her mighty arm;
And hallowed, twin in glory, proudly rose
Her sacred bosom lifted loftily.
While living radiance round Her presence clung
And moved in faithful concord as She turned
And bent Her gaze on mine. O not in scorn,
Approval, nor surprise; but as a star,
Serene, remote, and unapproachable,
Beams upon water troubled in the wind.
And I in worship strove to penetrate
Deep in the brightness of those azure heavens,
But felt their lustre pierce into my brain,
And I myself in darkness; evermore
Closed from adventure in the world of men.
Since that dark hour, I say it not in pride,
I have not tasted life nor known regret.
Within a shower of trembling sparkles She
Stood wringing out the river from Her hair.
Stretching Her hand to shake the drops away,
She showed the length, the strength, the rounded glow
Of beauty gleaming in Her mighty arm;
And hallowed, twin in glory, proudly rose
7
While living radiance round Her presence clung
And moved in faithful concord as She turned
And bent Her gaze on mine. O not in scorn,
Approval, nor surprise; but as a star,
Serene, remote, and unapproachable,
Beams upon water troubled in the wind.
And I in worship strove to penetrate
Deep in the brightness of those azure heavens,
But felt their lustre pierce into my brain,
And I myself in darkness; evermore
Closed from adventure in the world of men.
Since that dark hour, I say it not in pride,
I have not tasted life nor known regret.
| Tiresias | |