 | Voices and visions |  |
131
TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL
Thou hast peered at all creeds of the past, and each one hath seemed futile and poor
As a firefly that fades on a marsh, as a wind that makes moan on a moor;
For thy soul in its large love to man, in its heed of his welfare and cheer,
Bids him hurl to the dust whence they sprang all idolatries fashioned by fear.
As a firefly that fades on a marsh, as a wind that makes moan on a moor;
For thy soul in its large love to man, in its heed of his welfare and cheer,
Bids him hurl to the dust whence they sprang all idolatries fashioned by fear.
Not the eagle can gaze at the sun with more dauntless and challenging eyes
Than thou at the radiance of truth when it rifts the dark durance of lies.
From thy birth wert thou tyranny's foe, and its deeds were disdain in thy sight;
Thou art leagued with the dawn as the lark is—like him dost thou leap to the light!
Than thou at the radiance of truth when it rifts the dark durance of lies.
From thy birth wert thou tyranny's foe, and its deeds were disdain in thy sight;
Thou art leagued with the dawn as the lark is—like him dost thou leap to the light!
Having marked how the world's giant woes for the worst part are bigotry's brood,
Thou hast hated, yet never with malice, and scorned but in service of good.
Thy compassionate vision saw keen how similitude always hath dwelt
Between fumes poured from altars to God and from flames haggard martyrs have felt.
Thou hast hated, yet never with malice, and scorned but in service of good.
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Between fumes poured from altars to God and from flames haggard martyrs have felt.
What more splendid a pity than thine for the anguish thy race hath endured
Through allegiance to spectres and wraiths from the cohorts of fancy conjured?
At the bold pomps of temple and church is it wonder thy wisdom hath mourned,
Since the architect, Ignorance, reared them, and Fright, the pale sculptor, adorned?
Through allegiance to spectres and wraiths from the cohorts of fancy conjured?
At the bold pomps of temple and church is it wonder thy wisdom hath mourned,
Since the architect, Ignorance, reared them, and Fright, the pale sculptor, adorned?
But sterner thy loathing and grief that the priesthoods have shamed not to tell
Of an infinite vengeance enthroned in the heart of an infinite hell;
That they shrank not to mould from void air an Omnipotence worship should heed,
And yet clothed it with ruffian contempt for the world's multitudinous need!
Of an infinite vengeance enthroned in the heart of an infinite hell;
That they shrank not to mould from void air an Omnipotence worship should heed,
And yet clothed it with ruffian contempt for the world's multitudinous need!
Thy religion is loftier than theirs; nay, with vehement lips hast thou said
Its foundations are rooted in help to the living and hope for the dead.
All eternity's richest rewards to a spirit like thine would prove vain,
Were it sure of but one fellow-mortal that writhed in unperishing pain.
Its foundations are rooted in help to the living and hope for the dead.
All eternity's richest rewards to a spirit like thine would prove vain,
Were it sure of but one fellow-mortal that writhed in unperishing pain.
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Like a mariner drifted by night where tempestuous wracks overshade
Every merciful star that perchance might with silvery pilotage aid,
Resolution and vigilance each close-akin as thy heart-beat or breath,
Dost thou search in thy courage and calm the immense chartless ocean of death.
Every merciful star that perchance might with silvery pilotage aid,
Resolution and vigilance each close-akin as thy heart-beat or breath,
Dost thou search in thy courage and calm the immense chartless ocean of death.
There are phantoms of ships that lurch up, and thou seëst them and art not allured
By their masts made of glimmering dream, by their bulwarks from cloudland unmoored;
For the helmsmen that steer them are mist, and the sails they are winged with, each one,
By the feverish hands of fanatics on looms of delusion are spun.
By their masts made of glimmering dream, by their bulwarks from cloudland unmoored;
For the helmsmen that steer them are mist, and the sails they are winged with, each one,
By the feverish hands of fanatics on looms of delusion are spun.
At the vague stems are visages poised that in variant glimpses appear. ..
Here the swart and imperial Osiris, the crescent-crowned Mahomet here;
Or again, mystic Brahma, with eyes full of omens, monitions, and vows;
Or again, meek and beauteous, the Christ, with the blood-crusted thorns on his brows.
Here the swart and imperial Osiris, the crescent-crowned Mahomet here;
Or again, mystic Brahma, with eyes full of omens, monitions, and vows;
Or again, meek and beauteous, the Christ, with the blood-crusted thorns on his brows.
But thou sayest in thy surety to all: ‘Empty seemings, pass onward and fade!’ ...
Not by emblems and symbols of myth wert thou born to be tricked and betrayed;
For aloof o'er the desolate blank thou discernest, now dubious, now plain,
The expanse of one sheltering shoreland, worth ardours untold to obtain.
Not by emblems and symbols of myth wert thou born to be tricked and betrayed;
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The expanse of one sheltering shoreland, worth ardours untold to obtain.
Full of promise, expectancy, peace, in secure sequestration it lies,
Undismayed by a menace of storm from its arch of inscrutable skies. ...
Canst thou reach it, strong sea-farer? ... Yes! for the waves are thy bondsmen devout.
Look! they wash thee safe-limbed on its coast, clinging firm to thy tough spar of doubt!
Undismayed by a menace of storm from its arch of inscrutable skies. ...
Canst thou reach it, strong sea-farer? ... Yes! for the waves are thy bondsmen devout.
Look! they wash thee safe-limbed on its coast, clinging firm to thy tough spar of doubt!
Roam at large in its glorious domain; from its reaches night half has withdrawn;
Over inlet, bay, meadow, and creek broods the delicate damask of dawn;
Roam at large; 'tis a realm thou shouldst love; 'tis the kingdom where Science reigns king;
In its lapses of grove and of greensward sleeps many a crystalline spring.
Over inlet, bay, meadow, and creek broods the delicate damask of dawn;
Roam at large; 'tis a realm thou shouldst love; 'tis the kingdom where Science reigns king;
In its lapses of grove and of greensward sleeps many a crystalline spring.
To the eastward are mountains remote, with acclivities towering sublime:
The repose of their keen virgin peaks mortal foot hath not ventured to climb.
In their bastions and caverns occult, in their bleak lairs of glacier and stream,
There are treasures more copious and costly than fable hath yet dared to dream.
The repose of their keen virgin peaks mortal foot hath not ventured to climb.
In their bastions and caverns occult, in their bleak lairs of glacier and stream,
There are treasures more copious and costly than fable hath yet dared to dream.
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Thou shalt see not their splendours, for fate may retard through long ages the hour
That in bounteous bestowal at last shall mankind inconceivably dower.
Yet thy prophecies err not, O sage; thou divinest what wealth shall outpour
When exultant those proud heights of knowledge posterity sweeps to explore.
That in bounteous bestowal at last shall mankind inconceivably dower.
Yet thy prophecies err not, O sage; thou divinest what wealth shall outpour
When exultant those proud heights of knowledge posterity sweeps to explore.
Not for thee, not for us, those dear days! In oblivion our lots will be cast
When the future hath built firm and fair on the bulk of a petrified past.
Yet its edifice hardier shall bide for the boons fraught with help that we give—
For the wrongs that we cope with and slay, for the lies that we crush and outlive.
When the future hath built firm and fair on the bulk of a petrified past.
Yet its edifice hardier shall bide for the boons fraught with help that we give—
For the wrongs that we cope with and slay, for the lies that we crush and outlive.
And if record of genius like thine, or of eloquence fiery and deep,
Shall remain to the centuries regnant from centuries lulled into sleep,
Then thy memory as music shall float amid actions and aims yet to be,
And thine influence cling to life's good as the sea-vapours cling to the sea!
Shall remain to the centuries regnant from centuries lulled into sleep,
Then thy memory as music shall float amid actions and aims yet to be,
And thine influence cling to life's good as the sea-vapours cling to the sea!
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