 | The collected works of Ambrose Bierce |  |
138
LAUS LUCIS
[_]
Theosophists are about to build a “Temple for the Revival of the Mysteries of Antiquity.”—
Vide the Newspapers, passim.At mystery, and others at piquet.
Some sit in mystic meditation; some
Parade the street with tambourine and drum.
One studies to decipher ancient lore
Which, proving stuff, he studies all the more;
Another swears that learning is but good
To darken things already understood,
Then writes upon Simplicity so well
That none agree on what he wants to tell,
And future ages will declare his pen
Inspired by gods with messages to men.
To found an ancient order, these devote
Their time—with ritual, regalia, goat,
Blankets for tossing, chairs of little ease
And all the modern inconveniences;
Those, saner, frown upon unmeaning rites
And go to church for rational delights.
So all are suited, shallow and profound,
The prophets prosper and the world goes round.
For me—unread in the occult, I'm fain
To damn all mysteries alike as vain,
139
The Revelations of the good St. John.
| The collected works of Ambrose Bierce | |