 | Later Poems |  |
31
“Your Joy no Man taketh from You”
“Il n'y a pas de milieu, la Croix barre plus ou moins la vue libre
de la nature; le grand Pan n'a rien à faire avec le divin Crucifié.”—
Ste. Beuve.
O Christ, who layest, a babe, at the bosom of Mary sweet;
O child, whose Father's will was the first of thy drink and meat;
O child, whose Father's will was the first of thy drink and meat;
O man, whose love could dare to win the terrible crown
That circleth his brow alone who layeth his life adown;
That circleth his brow alone who layeth his life adown;
Thee painter and sculptor show with a face o'ershadowed deep
For the anguish of all the world and the woe its lovers reap.
For the anguish of all the world and the woe its lovers reap.
Thy hands and feet are pierced, side wounded, brow enthorned,
And patience lives on the lips of the smitten of God and scroned.
And patience lives on the lips of the smitten of God and scroned.
And yet while they tell of a love that boundless woe sustained,
At the bar of the human heart are one and all arraigned:
At the bar of the human heart are one and all arraigned:
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For they say thy cross bars out the glory of earthly things;
The flush of the sunset sky, the light that is early spring's;
The flush of the sunset sky, the light that is early spring's;
The beat of the sea's high heart against her lover's breast;
The spirit making its form in the body manifest;
The spirit making its form in the body manifest;
The wild sweet thrill i' the blood young mating creatures know;
The solemn calm that broods on the everlasting snow;
The solemn calm that broods on the everlasting snow;
The bliss of a poet's heart when his perfect song is made;
The joy of the warrior-soul whom nothing maketh afraid.
The joy of the warrior-soul whom nothing maketh afraid.
They say that, afar in the dark, dear Pan, our lover, lies,
In a dreadful silence lapt, struck dead by thy lightning eyes.
In a dreadful silence lapt, struck dead by thy lightning eyes.
Dear Pan, great Pan, who came to the place of men's abode,
A beam of the warm sun-smile alive on the lips of God.
A beam of the warm sun-smile alive on the lips of God.
Nay, Christ, thou lover of life, thou never slewest him thus
Who came in the morn of the world with beauty and cheer for us.
Who came in the morn of the world with beauty and cheer for us.
They say it who show thy face like his that never hath smiled,
Thou wonder of all the world, God-strong, more pure than a child.
Thou wonder of all the world, God-strong, more pure than a child.
We look in thine eyes that smile as the eyes of God, and see
The less in the more; not thee in Pan, but Pan in thee.
The less in the more; not thee in Pan, but Pan in thee.
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Thou greater and higher than he, by the stoop to the dread abyss,
And the rise to the shining heights of love-begotten bliss.
And the rise to the shining heights of love-begotten bliss.
For the gate in the shape of a cross, whose wardens are death and night,
Is the gate to the life of life; the gate to the light of light.
Is the gate to the life of life; the gate to the light of light.
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