 | Last poems including Afterglow and Beyond the sunset |  |
6
THE CHOICE
A voice came down from regions far away,
Solemn and stern, yet most divinely sweet,
“Choose thou, O Soul, the pathway for thy feet
When thou art done with Earth's bewildering day!
The high gods speak through me. They bid me say
When thou no more shalt hear life's surges beat
Upon the shores of time, nor wake to greet
The glorious morn, high noon, nor twilight gray.
Solemn and stern, yet most divinely sweet,
“Choose thou, O Soul, the pathway for thy feet
When thou art done with Earth's bewildering day!
The high gods speak through me. They bid me say
When thou no more shalt hear life's surges beat
Upon the shores of time, nor wake to greet
The glorious morn, high noon, nor twilight gray.
“They give thee leave to choose thy destiny.
Wilt live again in some new sphere, or go
Through the strange paths the living may not know
To utter nothingness?—Yet hear thou me
Ere thou decidest, for the gods decree
Who lives immortally shall never sow
In the new soil the seeds of earthly woe,
Of earthly love, or earthly memory.”
Wilt live again in some new sphere, or go
Through the strange paths the living may not know
To utter nothingness?—Yet hear thou me
Ere thou decidest, for the gods decree
Who lives immortally shall never sow
In the new soil the seeds of earthly woe,
Of earthly love, or earthly memory.”
7
And thus I answered: “Give me leave to die
Once and forever, ye who ne'er have known
The might of human love, nor shared its throne,
Tasted its bread and wine, nor lifted high
Its royal banners to the bending sky.
Too sweet, too strong Earth's tender loves have grown!
Rather than life whence their dear ghosts have flown,
O ye who are immortal, let me die!”
Once and forever, ye who ne'er have known
The might of human love, nor shared its throne,
Tasted its bread and wine, nor lifted high
Its royal banners to the bending sky.
Too sweet, too strong Earth's tender loves have grown!
Rather than life whence their dear ghosts have flown,
O ye who are immortal, let me die!”
April, 1912.
| Last poems including Afterglow and Beyond the sunset | |