 | Benoni |  |
247
HOUSEHOLD TEACHINGS.
This is the place, and this the month and hour,
But all beside is little else than new:
Who shall the unseen hollows of the air
Fill up, and to its vacant niche restore
Each native life and due accustom'd face
With welcomes of delight?
But all beside is little else than new:
Who shall the unseen hollows of the air
Fill up, and to its vacant niche restore
Each native life and due accustom'd face
With welcomes of delight?
Oh, it is true
That not their proper influence alone,
Or beauty, binds us to the things we see,—
But chiefly, if some sweet peculiar voice
Flow from them unto us; so places, blank
With barren silence to the souls of some,
Are populous to others with all dense
And varied forms of vision and of sound;
So not with briny unadhesive track
Our swift existence moves—but everywhere,
At halts and pauses, leaveth of itself
Some portion unawares, the which, again
By chance returning thitherward, shall speak
Reproach or triumph to the alter'd soul;
So not for me alone, nor all for thee,
The worth and dearness of a place abides,
But every heart that passeth by that way
To death, with separate shadows of his own
Shall store it for the time; poor tenantry,
That flee or perish when their lord departs,
Yet, failing, keep aye ready to revive
What time he comes again.
That not their proper influence alone,
Or beauty, binds us to the things we see,—
But chiefly, if some sweet peculiar voice
Flow from them unto us; so places, blank
With barren silence to the souls of some,
Are populous to others with all dense
And varied forms of vision and of sound;
So not with briny unadhesive track
Our swift existence moves—but everywhere,
At halts and pauses, leaveth of itself
248
By chance returning thitherward, shall speak
Reproach or triumph to the alter'd soul;
So not for me alone, nor all for thee,
The worth and dearness of a place abides,
But every heart that passeth by that way
To death, with separate shadows of his own
Shall store it for the time; poor tenantry,
That flee or perish when their lord departs,
Yet, failing, keep aye ready to revive
What time he comes again.
But as for these—
This idle room—this foolish garniture
And mere convenience of our common life—
These are unscath'd, nor fiery breath of ill
Hath pass'd on them; they, stedfast and secure,
And heedless to all comings and farewells
Of such as hold them dear, do still abide:
While we, the lords and slaves of circumstance,
Thro' varied action move and brisk event
Unfather'd of the Past, nor care to turn
And face the tracks of change—and on our heads
Strong stormy gusts of unseen providence
And full bewildering cataracts of harm
Burst booming from above; and (but to tread
One step beyond the timid walks of Thought,
And force our mute self-stifling consciousness
To speak) full soon the lean and clammy worm
Feeds on our dusty blood, and obscene maws
On rotting shreds of what we hold for self
Do gorge themselves in peace: aye, thou dost well,
Gaunt ban-dog, spitting thro' thy slimy fangs
Bits of the brain that helps me now to thought!
This idle room—this foolish garniture
And mere convenience of our common life—
These are unscath'd, nor fiery breath of ill
Hath pass'd on them; they, stedfast and secure,
And heedless to all comings and farewells
Of such as hold them dear, do still abide:
While we, the lords and slaves of circumstance,
Thro' varied action move and brisk event
Unfather'd of the Past, nor care to turn
And face the tracks of change—and on our heads
249
And full bewildering cataracts of harm
Burst booming from above; and (but to tread
One step beyond the timid walks of Thought,
And force our mute self-stifling consciousness
To speak) full soon the lean and clammy worm
Feeds on our dusty blood, and obscene maws
On rotting shreds of what we hold for self
Do gorge themselves in peace: aye, thou dost well,
Gaunt ban-dog, spitting thro' thy slimy fangs
Bits of the brain that helps me now to thought!
Yet, O strong man of heart—O clear-eyed youth—
O virgin fair—O precious wife serene—
Shall we then yield all true stability
Without a blow, and dwindling into death
Gnash at the vain and lazy permanence
Of creatures such as these?—Nay but, O man,
If thou art man indeed, and wieldest well
The birthright of the soul—to generate
Immortal life, even at the stroke of doom—,
Thou shalt defy the unconscious rivalry
Of stabler things inanimate, and rise
Like a fair city builded of To-day
With energies and wealth,—whose massy feet
Hide their deep prints with deeper as they grow;
Whose deeds eclipse the thin decrepit fame,
Long undeserved, which old historic mouths
Rain still upon the languid scanty sward
Of modern dulness withering on the place
Where heroes bloom'd; whose firm majestic march
Chills the weak blood and wrinkles up with spleen
The cold hard eyes of snarling burghers—men
Who howl to see Pretension spoil'd, and see
The tatter'd poltroon back before a thrust
Of honest effort brave,—who bid us weep,
As if the great Past in most swift decline
Or full prostration of her bastard brood
Did sympathise and suffer!
O virgin fair—O precious wife serene—
Shall we then yield all true stability
Without a blow, and dwindling into death
Gnash at the vain and lazy permanence
Of creatures such as these?—Nay but, O man,
If thou art man indeed, and wieldest well
The birthright of the soul—to generate
Immortal life, even at the stroke of doom—,
250
Of stabler things inanimate, and rise
Like a fair city builded of To-day
With energies and wealth,—whose massy feet
Hide their deep prints with deeper as they grow;
Whose deeds eclipse the thin decrepit fame,
Long undeserved, which old historic mouths
Rain still upon the languid scanty sward
Of modern dulness withering on the place
Where heroes bloom'd; whose firm majestic march
Chills the weak blood and wrinkles up with spleen
The cold hard eyes of snarling burghers—men
Who howl to see Pretension spoil'd, and see
The tatter'd poltroon back before a thrust
Of honest effort brave,—who bid us weep,
As if the great Past in most swift decline
Or full prostration of her bastard brood
Did sympathise and suffer!
So shalt thou,
Holding sweet useful commerce with thy kind,—
Commerce of thought, whereof thou shalt dispense
No selfish largess,—commerce of good deeds
That bind thee to thy fellows,—opening out
Thy powers of life, and seeking most of all
To atone thy spirit with the mind of Him—
So 'mid decaying follies thy wise soul
Shall build a proper immortality,
That shall outlast the stony senseless front
Of temples made with hands, and fructify
With many a grateful memory among
The children of thy people; and shalt learn
How better than the vain eternity
That means but lack of death,—how more in tune
With Nature's music and the laws of God,
It is, to tread with no unheeding feet
Nor witless eyes nor profitless dull soul,
The fruitful paths of due progressive change.
Holding sweet useful commerce with thy kind,—
Commerce of thought, whereof thou shalt dispense
No selfish largess,—commerce of good deeds
251
Thy powers of life, and seeking most of all
To atone thy spirit with the mind of Him—
So 'mid decaying follies thy wise soul
Shall build a proper immortality,
That shall outlast the stony senseless front
Of temples made with hands, and fructify
With many a grateful memory among
The children of thy people; and shalt learn
How better than the vain eternity
That means but lack of death,—how more in tune
With Nature's music and the laws of God,
It is, to tread with no unheeding feet
Nor witless eyes nor profitless dull soul,
The fruitful paths of due progressive change.
| Benoni | |