Michael Villiers, Idealist And Other Poems. By E. H. Hickey |
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UTOPIA
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 | Michael Villiers, Idealist |  |
153
UTOPIA
Where is the land of Utopia,
The good, the fair?
How shall we bask in its sunshine,
Breathe in its air?
Say, is that wonderful country,
Indeed, nowhere?
The good, the fair?
How shall we bask in its sunshine,
Breathe in its air?
Say, is that wonderful country,
Indeed, nowhere?
Where the love of men for their fellows
Is deep and strong;
Where the trust of men for their fellows
Is broad and long;
Where the voices of man and nature
Make one great song.
Is deep and strong;
Where the trust of men for their fellows
Is broad and long;
Where the voices of man and nature
Make one great song.
Where they ever seek the ideal
With hearts unashamed;
And the search for good and beauty
Is all unblamed;
And the name of falsehood never
So much as named.
With hearts unashamed;
And the search for good and beauty
Is all unblamed;
And the name of falsehood never
So much as named.
154
All of the folk in Utopia
Are free of the sod;
They know no fetters of slavedom,
No tyrant's nod;
They may not be dragged or driven,
Were it even to God.
Are free of the sod;
They know no fetters of slavedom,
No tyrant's nod;
They may not be dragged or driven,
Were it even to God.
Are all in Utopia equal?
They all are free;
They have room to breathe and grow in,
To hear and see;
And they never think of claiming
Equality.
They all are free;
They have room to breathe and grow in,
To hear and see;
And they never think of claiming
Equality.
Work and honour and pleasure
Are all they claim;
For spirit differs from spirit
As frame from frame;
And fair degree is better
Than same and same.
Are all they claim;
For spirit differs from spirit
As frame from frame;
And fair degree is better
Than same and same.
They sometimes go wrong in Utopia,
And err likewise;
But the light of a loyal purpose
Is in their eyes;
And if they stumble in going,
Again they rise.
And err likewise;
But the light of a loyal purpose
Is in their eyes;
And if they stumble in going,
Again they rise.
155
They cleave not to old for old's sake,
Nor new for new
They seek, but are eager-willing
God's will to do;
So shall they one day, surely,
Know what is true.
Nor new for new
They seek, but are eager-willing
God's will to do;
So shall they one day, surely,
Know what is true.
Whenever one steppeth forward
New ways to try,
There is none to hiss him and scorn him,
Or raise the cry,
‘Bring stones wherewith to stone him
For blasphemy!’
New ways to try,
There is none to hiss him and scorn him,
Or raise the cry,
‘Bring stones wherewith to stone him
For blasphemy!’
They know the eternal Spirit
Hath many a guise
Of body for high revealing
To seeking eyes;
They love the spirit truly,
And so are wise.
Hath many a guise
Of body for high revealing
To seeking eyes;
They love the spirit truly,
And so are wise.
The worn-out body they gently
Lay in its rest,
The dark and quickening glory
Of earth's dear breast.
From good there comes the better,
For better, the best.
Lay in its rest,
The dark and quickening glory
Of earth's dear breast.
From good there comes the better,
For better, the best.
156
They are never afraid in Utopia
To try and to prove;
Each follows a loyal impulse,
However it move,
And doeth whatever he pleaseth,
Because all love.
To try and to prove;
Each follows a loyal impulse,
However it move,
And doeth whatever he pleaseth,
Because all love.
They know the wonderful secrets
That lie soft curled
Round the heart of the mystic being
We call the world;
The home of life and quickening,
With light impearled.
That lie soft curled
Round the heart of the mystic being
We call the world;
The home of life and quickening,
With light impearled.
They have watched her all the daytime,
Know every heave
And fall of her bosom's beauty,
And softly cleave
To her side, and laugh with her laughter,
And with her grieve.
Know every heave
And fall of her bosom's beauty,
And softly cleave
To her side, and laugh with her laughter,
And with her grieve.
They have gazed on her in the night-time,
In lucid rest;
They have seen her lovely body
By sleep caressed;
They know of the mole cinque-spotted
Upon her breast.
In lucid rest;
They have seen her lovely body
By sleep caressed;
They know of the mole cinque-spotted
Upon her breast.
157
Their eyes are open for seeing,
Their ears can hear
The blare of the great wind's trumpet,
Its flute-song clear;
The music of spirit voices,
Afar, anear.
Their ears can hear
The blare of the great wind's trumpet,
Its flute-song clear;
The music of spirit voices,
Afar, anear.
Alive they are, and responsive
To every touch;
Nor dull, nor morbid; for Nature
Bestows on such
Her healthy measure, which knows not
Too little, too much.
To every touch;
Nor dull, nor morbid; for Nature
Bestows on such
Her healthy measure, which knows not
Too little, too much.
They know not our anguish-billows
On oceans wild:
The needs of the sense and the spirit
Are reconciled:
The strength of the man has wedded
The heart of the child.
On oceans wild:
The needs of the sense and the spirit
Are reconciled:
The strength of the man has wedded
The heart of the child.
Are there ever tears in Utopia?
Ah, who may say?
Is the fire of pain still burning
There day by day?
—Well, tears and fire may be lustral,
May heal, not slay.
Ah, who may say?
Is the fire of pain still burning
There day by day?
—Well, tears and fire may be lustral,
May heal, not slay.
158
When shall the sight of that country
Crown wish and prayer?
Oh! shall we ever find it,
The dear, the fair?
Or is the land of Utopia,
Indeed, nowhere?
Crown wish and prayer?
Oh! shall we ever find it,
The dear, the fair?
Or is the land of Utopia,
Indeed, nowhere?
| Michael Villiers, Idealist | |