The collected poems of Arthur Edward Waite in two volumes ... With a Portrait |
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| THE POOR BROTHER'S MASS-BOOK
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| X. |
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| XIV. |
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| XVIII. |
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| XX. |
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| XXIV. |
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| XXVI. |
| XXVII. |
| XXVIII. |
| XXIX. |
| XXX. |
| XXXI. |
| XXXII. |
| XXXIII. |
| XXXIV. |
| XXXV. |
| XXXVI. |
| XXXVII. |
| XXXVIII. |
| XXXIX. |
| XL. |
| XLI. |
| XLII. |
| XLIII. |
| XLIV. |
| XLV. |
| XLVI. |
| XLVII. |
 | The collected poems of Arthur Edward Waite |  |
THE POOR BROTHER'S MASS-BOOK
OR A DEVOUT METHOD OF ASSISTING AT THE HOLY SACRIFICE FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD. ITEM: AN IMPLIED MANNER OF SERVING, FOR CLERKS OF THE HOLY ASSEMBLIES.
Dazzle, then die; and when the paths we trod
Shew all grcen life about them burnt to ashes—
What then remains? A new appeal to God.
Beyond the Orders and the Thurches rise
The great and secret heights. The soul descries,
Despite immeasurable distance, how
Ascent is possible at will for all
Who do no proffer'd graces disavow.
And seeing that the nearest door perchance
Is that intended for her first advance,
Less as a home at first than house of call,
She to the Thurch appeals for ministries.
Haply it follows that the soul, who there
Enters on inward offices of prayer—
Despite the letter and its grievous chain—
Shall find the Thurch has all and there remain.
I
WHEN PASSING THE THRESHOLD OF
THE TEMPLE
The postulant enters the outward Church, to partake of its ministry, as one who accepts for the moment a second best, while desiring those things which are supernal.
Greater Disillusion
Behold we stand from all deceit apart!Nothing misleads us, nothing can betray:
We have reckon'd up all vanities and seek
True life alone, asking for God through all,
Having outgrown some sacraments and types
But yet deferring to their ministry,
As to the service of green leaves at noon
And all the votive offerings Nature brings—
Odours of sweetness, myrrh, frankincense, gold.
While men are seeking for truth with many clamours, it may happen that God opens the door of the heart and comes in.
II
WHEN TAKING SEAT
The Postulant assumes his appointed place with prefect conformity, under obedience to the instituted signs, invoking the Voice and the Word.
The Voice of the Beloved
That which we heard of old, and long to hear,Speak in the floods once more, or, far and near,
Amidst the rushing winds reverberate;
In the sea's music, mother of thought profound
And deepest feeling, let the tidings sound;
Most in thought's silent ways, early and late!
The Second Temple was not less the House of God because the Shekinah was withdrawn. So is the Presence with us, whether It is realised or not.
III
THE FIRST RECOLLECTION
The soul exhorts herself, because paths of advance in the several grades of the Lesser and Greater Mysteries are in a certain sense narrow, and few enter the Gate which opens towards the Higher Palace.
Le Moyen de Parvenir
Straight as the path which leads in distant daysTo the large issues of the narrow gate,
Be our life shaped in all its ways and aims,
And let all high intent the heart upraise;
But do not bide till we can meet all claims,
Or, with the chance of service, stand and wait!
It is with the great matters of religion as it is with the business of life; if we looked for time and opportunity, we should do but little in the latter, and if we tarried in the other to increase worthiness, we should never go back to God. It might be written that we shall be worthy when we enter into the Divine Union.
IV
A PREFATORY MEDITATION
The sun rises in the East to restore the blessing of daylight, and another sun, rising in the soul of man, brings peace as well as justice.
And so Onward
Through earth's long day, the spirit and the fleshMaintain their strife within; but our life's star
Illumines still the intellectual air,
Strength, beauty, brilliance gathering as it moves,
Till slowly upward soars man's nobler self
Towards calmer zones, to zeniths of the mind
Aspiring. Necessary helps vouchsafed
Our weakness strengthen—most, O mighty sea,
Thy vastness and thy voices, strength with strength
Enduing! And ye too, ye lonely roads,
Ye thickets only by the fox and bird
Frequented, and ye populous human haunts—
One whole gigantic heart, throbbing with life—
Ye also help in your own high degree!
But when these fail us, as our last resource,
The House of God remains to take us in;
And if to hearts inhibited at times
Seem voided, know, the Master of the House,
With signs of presence, shall at need invest
Both inward chancel and external nave.
We cannot suppose that the man is approaching God who has obviously no desire thereof; but we must hope that deep in his heart there may still be a latent capacity of that desire.
V
THE CEREMONY OF COMMENCING THE
OFFICE
The Great Mysteries of Religion, as represented by their Liturgical Rites, begin invariably with invocation of the Divine Names, by the way of that substitution which signifies, in a summary, the whole mission of the Church, being the reverent and orderly communication of great auguries and tokens which stand for things not manifest: e.g. the In Nomine which opens the Mass.
The Secret Name
The letters of the Name we long to learnAre found in sacred books at every turn,
Yet we in vain those characters may trace,
And with our eyes their outward sense discern;
For the Great Name itself, our saving grace,
Is utter'd only in the Holy Place.
The atmosphere of the Divine Secret abides in a great disinterest, and yet that secret is nearest of all things.
VI
INTROIBO AD ALTARE DEI
It is good to enter the Path which takes the Seeker to the Altar, for Heaven comes down to the soul which cannot ascend thereto.
The Cause Pleaded
We have confess'd Thee since our days began,Thy law discern'd in all creation's plan,
And yet unprofitable servants still
Remain, so distant from Thy holy hill,
Conscious of nothing like the dreadful want
And void within us—full of rumours dark—
Waiting Thy manifested covenant,
The refuge of Thine Altar and Thine Ark.
The youth of the soul is the King's Presence, and the joy which cometh thereof is morning's joy and the Mass-time.
VII
JUDICA ME, DEUS
He who prays to be delivered from the evil man asks to be saved from himself.
The Other Way
We prove all paths, nor find a road in one;Seek many things beneath the wintry sun
Which shines alone on this dim earth of ours;
But when the barren strife at length is done
May grace, free-handed, come with blessed dowers
And shew the true way strewn with deathless flowers.
To reach Thee, and that burden of our dole—
The part of death which into death returns:
Proclaim Thy high salvation in the soul,
Fill with Thy light and in Thy love make whole!
The soul is sad and disturbed because of the great distance; but this is a part of her illusion.
VIII
THE CONFESSION
The Sanctum Sanctorum is the place of purification, and wretched is he who waits to strive with his sins before he has recourse to God.
Foundations of Victory
One little life—have I sought—
Or possibly many lives—to find
That truth of truth which can fill the mind;
Nor have I fear'd to stand alone
In the lonely ways of thought.
I did not tarry for these;
The dreadful sense of a heart unfit—
Through its native earth—how I fought with it,
And the knowledge of days mis-spent
In face of the mysteries!
“Yield, soul!” or, “The dream is done,
Because alone the untainted heart
Wins crowns I work for!” Then, Hope, depart!
But 'twas up with the stricken head,
Still looking to meet the sun!
For weal has the wine-press trod,
And though my sins upon either hand,
In witness rising, against me stand,
They shall waste not my heart's desire,
Which out of them leaps to God.
As time goes on, we desire more and more the white walls of Salem; but it should be remembered that the Eternal City is within.
IX
THE INDULGENCE
There are greater benedictions, and like these the greater evils are within, but notwithstanding that forgiveness can be always presupposed in virtue of that supernatural love which casts out fear, there is still the mal-ease of the soul in the peopled darkness and the purlieus, where the commerce of wickedness drives its several trades.
For the Crown and the Kingdom
Our hopes are Thine; to Thee our ends converge;And all of will within us, long transferr'd,
Waits on the fiat of Thine utter'd word.
Speak in the silence; speak in the storm of sound
From which, to reach Thy silence, we emerge
Here on this holy ground;
Speak in the Rites that bless Thee; on the verge
Of all things manifest; in things unseen—
Speak. In our longing we shall find no rest
Until we know what all Thy portents mean.
O when Thy high intention stands express'd,
Speak in the heart, and we shall hear Thee best!
Which has from Thy life sever'd us so long:
Take us, do with us as Thou wilt;
The sad mischances of our days forgive;
From those dark paths wherein we mate with guilt
Redeem us, Saviour: teach us how to live.
It is in the suspension of earthly things that the first secret consists.
X
WHEN THE PRIEST ASCENDS TO THE
ALTAR
The search after God is not the quest of joy, which itself is a counsel of the search, but the satisfaction of a craving impelled by the spur of necessity.
The Last End
When after all the strife and wearyingWe come in contact with the great true thing,
Which points the term of all—will that be such
As shall make compensation overmuch
For the long disillusions and sharp sting?
But yes—God save us—its most distant touch
Thrills our heart's instrument in every string.
It is not impossible to aspire to the similitude of God, and this is the implicit of union.
XI
AUFER A NOBIS
Man is a time-piece which never stops.
Purgation
A little space of daylight and of gloom,Of pain and dim delight, and then the tomb,
Whereat the whole is over and is gone—
Those scenes forget us where of old we toil'd:
Sad is it surely; but the soul assoil'd
Its path appointed takes, and still goes on.
Now, therefore, where Thy Holy Place begins,
Bid us, we pray Thee, pause, and purge our sins!
Let us seek to enter with pure minds, but remember that enter we must.
XII
THE INTROIT
It is the concealment of God in humanity which causes the sleep of this life.
An Opening of the Gates
Open Thy gates; behold we open ours!We have destroy'd our earthworks, broken down
All roofs and battlements; our Babel towers
Are rent to fragments. Give us entrance now
Within the holy precincts of Thy town!
Long exiled from Thy palace and Thy throne;
Let us behold Thy face, and teach us how
The wondrous secret of the world is known
By the ineffable glory of Thy crown
And in the life eternal of Thy heart.
Believe in the great things, practise mansuetude and sweetness.
XIII
THE KYRIE ELEISON
We do not enter the Path because it is pleasant, but because it is the only track.
The Gate and the Way
A narrow gate, a straight, unbending road,Bleak hill-tops, sudden gorges, and a load
Of sadness through the solitary track:
One comfort only—to our own abode
The one way back!
And since we needs must reach Thee, why and how
Esteeming little, shew us mercy, Thou!
It is not becoming that those who were born in the palace should build cabins in the desert.
XIV
GLORIA IN EXCELSIS
The places of peace are also those of exaltation.
The Secret of Success
Peace in high places; on the peaks supreme,Far over passion's mists, deep peace of love;
Light of true light, the glory and the gleam;
Far over troubled sleep, what worlds of dream
Give space for souls—yes, there is room above!
Sleep naturally passes into dream, but there is a certain repose in which dream is exalted into vision; and this at its induction is initiation, but at the end, adeptship.
XV
THE COLLECT
The consolation which carries us along is that, seeing there is but one true road no one can err therein.
Consummation
Fear not frustration of our good intent,But fear the feeble working of our wills;
Fail'd never yet the soul which, seeking, went,
Far as soul could, upon the great ascent:
What by the Word Divine—say, God—is meant?
He that fulfils!
Do not despise the trifles, but do not let them deceive us!
XVI
THE SUBSTITUTED EPISTLE
The way of compassion is also the way of sorrow.
Ascetic Life
Is not to rack the flesh,
Of needless pain in heart and brain
Adding yet burdens fresh.
Till this reveals to sense
How patience meek through all must seek,
And yet through all dispense;
For truth the perfect end;
Not for the prize before the eyes
But that unseen contend.
To fail on earth of each;
Must nurse no doubt but still hold out
To reach what's out of reach.
Shall gain the lesser meed,
And take its fill; the greater, still
Go empty and in need.
It sighs but does not stay;
O'er secret parts of human hearts
It yearns, but moves away.
We dream but do not see;
If we but knew, our pains were few—
Ah, light our task would be!
Would pause on things of earth,
Did bright and clear that star appear
Whence all our stars draw birth?
Is here meanwhile our lot,
And to forego but not to know—
Asking, but answer'd not.
That which we burn to find
Earth cannot give; for this to live
Dares not the man of mind.
His great shall school his less,
'Twixt soul and star to lift no bar—
Because the end may bless.
Their daily bread to eat,
And God at last bless those who fast,
Desiring ghostly meat!
The Path of the Cross is the Path of the Mystical Rose, though Rose and Cross are joined. That which they form together ceases to be a path of sorrow.
XVII
THE GRADUAL
Great are the beights and great also are the deeps; the cohorts of witnesses are numberless; but beyond all is the place of benediction, and to this we look for the power and the glory also.
Benison
Thou Who dost bless us, Whom we bless, herebyBefore all men, I rise and testify
That by Thy grace alone I look to live;
That Thy dear gifts above the crowns of earth
Are precious and are mine by right of birth,
So here I freely take, as Thou dost give.
There is a certain confusion of thought concerning the Divine complacency in the dedication of our human love. Even in the spheres that we seek for, it is not entirely a question of complacency, but of the natural conjunction of things which from the beginning were meant for one another.
XVIII
MUNDA COR MEUM
Though it is impossible to recall the past, the future can at least be moulded newly in respect of our plans concerning it.
The Enkindling Stone
Come, let us pledge the heart to purer life,Thrusting the past behind, with all it holds
The future! Thither—to the mountain heights!—
We yet shall meet the messenger divine,
Standing serene in some uplifted place,
On which the stars shed influence, whereon
Do moon and sun concur. His hands shall hold
The shining stone inscribed with secret words,
Which hallow lips for prophecy and give
Not only tidings true but sense thereof.
Man is native to the beights, and the burden of his normal life is a difficulty of respiration in the deeps to which he does not belong by his origin.
XIX
THE FIRST GOSPEL
It is therefore only on the mountains that the feet of the messenger are beautiful when he brings glad tidings near.
On the Way to Jerusalem
O if the splendours of the life aboveThis turbid life of earth might dawn on us,
With shafts of sacred light and two-edged beams
Refracted up and down from rocks and peaks
Of spiritual precipice, to rend
This temple's veil, this temple built by flesh
To flesh for the soul's bondage and dark night;
And might the soul, among the dateless hills,
Some path discern, that—follow'd till it ends—
Should lead to Zion, the eternal town,
The endless rest! Receive thine exiled son,
High city, set upon the hills; from far,
And questing waters—from the murk and waste,
Where upas vapours breathe—we hail thee now,
Suspiring towards thee. And thy gospel bells
Proclaim new heights, where souls, redeem'd by God,
Shall gaze abroad, commanding life and time,
And calm in conscious strength the crown await.
Salem is on the mountain top because it is a spiritual city.
XX
THE CREDO
Those truths which most call for expression are those also which exceed it.
Inexpressible
Now, let us here in secret, as if drawnTogether in some holy place apart
To welcome in the day-star ere it dawn,
Declare the hidden matter—heart to heart:
Nay, it eludes the thought, however high,
And words still fail him who would testify.
And unto Thee return; the time and mode
Are in Thy hands. There is a reason why,
And this we feel. Keep clear, we pray, the road;
Apart from Thee nothing can satisfy:
Lead, and still lead the trembling hearts of men.
This is our faith in Thee, our strong defence:
Do Thou fulfil it in experience!
XXI
THE OFFERTORY
It is a little thing to renounce extrinsic goods, having renounced ourselves already, the better to attain ourselves.
True Possessions
Much does he gain who much dispenses; wantShall reach him not; a constant stream of wealth
Is round him drawn. From him who meanly hoards
His own, is true wealth taken. What in one
Centres alone is lost, and every gift—
Not in the man inherent—whether brought
From God directly or from Nature—shared,
Returns to the dispenser; we attain
All things in giving and conceding them.
With the things which are of real value we have never been asked to part, but only with those tokens which are of temporal convenience, some of which become encumbrances and even burdens.
XXII
THE OBLATION
There is a reason why silence envelopes us within, notwithstanding the clamours that are without; yet the expression of the higher soul is the only clean offering, and this is imposed upon us.
Expression
Deep within the heart of each,
Rests unutter'd. Tell me, pray,
When shall man have leave for speech?
Thus with message overcharged,
Underneath its bonds' control
Is, in spite of bonds, enlarged!
All horizons melt from sight,
Till life's mighty waters win
Union with the infinite.
Wondrous union, wondrous rest;
Still possession—so shall be
The long pent-up soul express'd.
The need of expression arises from the law of concealment, but this law is essential and inheres, rather than is prescribed. For the same reason the burden of sin is assumed, but the yoke of grace is native and so also is light.
XXIII
THE MINGLING OF WINE AND WATER
From the circumference to the centre may be far, but the way is direct to the end. The union of elements is in motion, and therefore man goes on.
Thou Only
Eternal Priest of Mysteries Divine,When Thou hast purified our human part
And quicken'd that which lieth cold and dead,
Place on Thine Altar—like this mystic bread—
Our hearts, to Thy most healthful service given;
And pour Thy spirit, as supernal wine,
On the inconstant waters of our soul!
Make us partakers of Thy substance thus
And in such mode shalt Thou partake of us,
Our heart united to Thy sacred heart;
And by Thy saving virtue so made whole,
Our life shall ever be withdrawn in Thine,
Thy life make heaven in us, O Lord of Heaven!
Watchman, what of the end?
XXIV
IN SPIRITU HUMILITATIS
The power of arbitration in man is between the heights and the deeps, but the place of peace is not in the middle way.
Vessels of Election
The heart is Thine, the will is turn'd to Thee:Thou didst require them at our hands; Thou hast
Received them. At the steps of Thy White Throne
That they could serve Thy purpose. Kings below,
To Thee, the King of all, that which we are
Is offer'd. O the glorious pride in free
And uncondition'd giving! Of his end
Thou hast made each the arbiter; it lies
Between his hands, that he may make it Thine,
And so all purpose of his world fulfil.
The keys of death and immortality,
With every dole and crown to these attach'd,
We hold, and yield them to Thy mastership.
Count therefore this the spirit and the term
Of our condign humility, who come
With contrite souls to be made worthy Thee,
Yet in Thy need for us are masters still,
Nor into misery and abjectness
Can ever lapse, but great in Thee through all
Must issue forth triumphant in the end!
It is not a matter of importance that the victory should be ultimately with ourselves, but the great ends must prevail, and they can prevail only in us.
XXV
IN THE BLESSING OF BREAD AND WINE
It is possible to receive God in many elements.
Venite
Weary of walking in the night alone,Come, we beseech Thee, come unto Thine own!
Vapid are our pursuits and vain our lot
But not so foolish we as to desire Thee not.
Communication is in many kinds, but the true act of reception is only in the inmost heart.
XXVI
THE INCENSING OF THE BREAD
AND WINE
The soul is naturally fastidious and even the manna in the wilderness calls for express consecration.
Probation
Of many elements combined, we pleadFor Thy great blessing to assuage our need
In this wide world of dreams!
God grant that, issuing at last from these,
We shall unlock, with certain secret keys,
Life's inmost and far curving galleries,
Where very singers find the very themes!
The opening of the Closed Palace is a great work of inspiration.
XXVII
THE INCENSING OF THE ALTAR
Seasons of inhibition are promises of seasons of fulness.
Interdiction
The time of blessing comes and goes;Then dry days follow for a space,
That learners may their souls dispose
To walk at need apart from grace.
Say not that inspiration's fount,
Henceforth to flow inhibited,
Is seal'd up in the sacred mount!
Say rather: silence full and rich
In its still depths prepares the ground
For other wells of mercy, which
In later torrents shall abound!
The soundings of the deep are beyond the plummets of the senses.
XXVIII
ACCENDAT IN NOBIS
It does not signify whether joy comes in the morning, but it is vital that the King should come.
The Unities
Diverse our passions, yet but one desire;Much smoke, much smouldering, one cleansing fire;
Concerns unnumber'd which are little blest,
Only one rest,
One travail that is worthy of the hire:
This labour, that heart's burning and the dumb,
Unspoken longing for the King to come
And His great kingdom to be manifest!
Most of us perhaps can do little to promote its advent in the world, but we can cherish it secretly in the heart.
XXIX
BEFORE THE LAVABO
It is well to wash with the innocent, but it is a greater thing to go through the cleansing fires which purge the guilty from their sins.
Misfits
'Tis scarcely true that souls come naked downTo take abode up in this earthly town,
Or naked pass—all that they wear denied:
We enter slipshod and with clothes awry,
And we take with us much that by and by
May prove no easy task to put aside.
We pray Thee, Master; ere Thy sacred halls
We enter, strip from us redundant things
And meetly clothe us in pontificals!
The House of God is the House of many Lustrations.
XXX
SUSCIPE, SANCTA TRINITAS
The first consummations are only the first draughts of the everlasting cup; but the secret is to drink deeply.
Journeys in the Blue Distance
A little space to move in, and a little space for sleep,And then a space more narrow for repose that is more deep;
With room for men to walk in who go forth to find their God.
All other bonds our wills at least evade:
But do Thou give us of Thyself, and thus
A clean oblation shall be made by us!
Thou dost not need our offerings, but we
Transmuting need, to make us gold for Thee.
The greatest quests are not those which are followed in time or space.
XXXI
SECRETA
So long as we are exiled from God, we can scarcely escape sin.
Restoration
I left Thee at Thy bidding;
I put off my white robes and shining crown
And came into this world for love of Thee.
In mean and darken'd houses:
The scarlet fruits of knowledge and of sin
Have stain'd me with their juice for love of Thee.
From Thee so sadly parted;
I could not choose but put away my sin
And purge and scourge those stains for love of Thee.
Nothing can ease or fill me:
Restore me, past the frozen baths of death,
My crown and robes, desired for love of Thee:
My loss or gain counts little,
But Thou must need me since I need Thee so,
Crying through day and night for love of Thee!
The wings of the dove would not carry us into rest, for a bird's flight bears the same relation to progress that a sandcastle bears to Mont Salvatch in the Pyrenees.
XXXII
SURSUM CORDA
The exaltation of the heart takes place after many purgations.
Secret Song
O sad voice, singing close at hand,Thy words we may not understand!
But strangely full and sweet art thou;
And thou dost soothe, we know not how.
Perchance thy low refrain reveals,
In sorrow's deeps, the well which heals.
A great pity must surge for ever in the soul of the illuminated man towards all motions and yearnings of Nature, so full of impassioned endeavour, so full of the sense of loss and inability.
XXXIII
THE PREFACE
Nature itself is made in our own likeness.
Mirrors of Manhood
And its own speech discerns in every tone;
All Nature voices what he is and was
And will be—equally in star or stone.
If “running brooks” are books, he writes, he reads;
If stones are sermons, he provides their theme,
And with himself in these he speaks, he pleads.
Still Nature stood till he, an exile, came,
Bringing dim echoes of an older word
And fragments of a now unutter'd name.
That which he would he cannot hear or say,
And pale reflections of his own long call
Tortures, to draw their inward sense to day.
And down his own vast depths in vain he cries:
Perchance the still profundities explain
That which exceeds all words, however wise.
And all resounding caverns hush'd within,
That which the clamours from his soul divide
May to draw nigh and to commune begin.
It is a long watch to the morning, but it is also a sure one. The powers and the glories are with us in the great vigil, and the darkness of the night intervening is no ground for doubt in the heart.
XXXIV
THE CANON
All the greater laws are made in the course of our advancement.
Facilis Ascensus
What is the canon of the King's true law,By which we know it is indeed the King's?
Ah, could we find it—faithful, free from flaw—
Clear would be all which once we dimly saw
And simple the ascent to noble things!
The official interpretations of laws are like sonorous but confused voices of great winds surging about a secret sanctuary.
XXXV
COMMEMORATION OF THE LIVING
There is a great past behind us, and the future as great is in front.
Nunc Dimittis
How perfect is the peace of himWhose work in life is done,
And space remains to count the gains
Of some high course outrun;
Who looking back on his past track
Can proudly lift his head
And truly claim for every aim—
This is consummated.
In spite of our dreaming and our seeming, we have begun to touch the reality in this life, because the sacramental body of man is the sum of all physical perfection which it is possible for us here to conceive.
XXXVI
THE CONSECRATION AND ELEVATION
The man who denies the sacraments is less guilty than he who dismembers them.
Of Bread and Wine
From the first dawn of things Thou hast me fedWith many substances of wine and bread,
Beyond those daily charities which bless
All men with manna in the wilderness;
Refreshment from an everlasting cup
To take with spiritual lips, Thou didst
My soul sustain, its angel-peers amidst.
Then at Thy board I sat, all sane and whole,
Clothed in the proper garment of my soul;
Then in the liturgies and rites which make
A rapture in Thy presence, did I take
A part allotted, and their calls fulfil
With a most clear conception of Thy will.
From Thy great temple's service I was spared;
From Thy high palace-gates and halls sent down
And precincts fair of Thine eternal town—
I know not why, who had not tired of Thee
And scarce could falter in Thy ministry,
Under Thine eyes' light, with such graces lent,
Sufficing, efficacious. But I went,
And since that time, which is earth's time outside,
Far as my paths might from Thy throne divide,
Deep as the gulfs might be which I plunged in—
Conduits and cesspools of the House of Sin—
In the strange tavern and the stranger's bed,
I do remember still Thy wine and bread.
So that I cannot look up to. Thy gate;
Having withal too dim and sad an eye
To see the splendour of that chancelry,
Where, unto those who serve and those who err,
Justice or love Thou dost administer;
I have been long content Thy hands to bless
For any manna in the wilderness:
But, though all gifts within Thy hands are good,
My soul now turns and loathes the lighter food;
The man whose want demands strong meat and mead.
Therefore as one who has been raised from base
And scullion errands to a page's place,
My need has bade me from the broken meat
And brings me, crying, at Thy board to eat;
But, since all bridal garments here I lack,
I call on Thee to give those vestments back
Wherein I served in such uplifted state
Ere I was put forth from Thy palace-gate:
Still through all straits I keep my claim on them
And the bright shining of my diadem.
Yet am I native to Thy temple-vault:
Perhaps, for Thine own purpose, Thou hast seen
Fit to reduce me from my primal mien;
But be my guilt in Thine eyes less or more
Now matters not: I pray—Restore, restore!
And having given, as Thou needs must give,
To one who naked can no longer live,
The proper garments of the soul, I know
That to Thy banquet hall I then shall go,
Saying: “High Master, I have fasted long;
Give me man's meat and wine of vintage strong.”
Whereat, with fitting benison and grace,
They shall set down true bread before my place
And to my lips Thy pages shall lift up—
For deep, free drinking—an eternal cup.
In the King's sense be they interpreted.
We can always be sure of our commentaries, short as they fall of perfection, by uniting their intention with God.
XXXVII
THE COMMEMORATION OF THE DEAD
The life of earth is an experience of things unfamiliar: the after life is a renewal of the old familiarity.
Restoration
As by his own fireside, in his own chair,A man slips gently into sleep, and there
Starts up awake once more in his own room,
Recalling all things in the glow and gloom:
So when the draught of death in sleep he takes,
Perchance all suddenly the man awakes
To find him in the old familiar place—
That primal home, left for life's little space.
That which is not known is that which we have forgotten.
IBID.
[Now Autumn crisps and dries the yellow'd leaf]
We are so much on the verge of the Union that it seems almost impossible we should escape it.
In the Elegiac Manner
Long since sad reapers brought the harvest in;
All which dejects us or exalts is brief—
Death in life's mask, shall life in death's begin?
A voice perchance which could some hearts encheer:
Haunt not, vain elegy, his former place
And, vacant heart, forbid the falling tear!
Let fools inscribe. Did peace make sweet his end?
Who knows?—Implora pace! Turn away
From hackney'd thoughts of father and of friend.
Convention plumes the hearse which bears the clay,
Convention cries that hearts in hallow'd ground
Embalm remembrances that ne'er decay.
Go to, who cares that dust to dust returns?
Or that in chapels of mortality
Some little space the lamp of memory burns!
And the long avenues that soul has pass'd;
If you have strength, refrain from useless calls
To other meetings—what if this were last?
Call, therefore, in the great Augustan mood,
Once and for all such end to crown his soul,
Content, so he bear that, to bear your rood.
We have been cautious through many initiations, but a great reservation must be taken into the grade ne plus ultra of death.
IBID.
[Look forth no more where bindweeds creep]
Those who have gone before us are so much the nearer to the Union.
To Other Ends
Look forth no more where bindweeds creepAbout thy lattice bars,
And move no more where waters sweep
Entranced by musing stars!
Thy peace be full, thy rest be deep,
New light enrich thine eyes;
While night is dark on ours who weep,
Sweet Life, fill other skies:
That which God join'd to make thy wonder,
For Heaven's gain, thus He puts asunder.
The great secrets of all are not spoken, but signified.
IBID.
[Now heralds, passing through desponding Hades]
We look at the end of things for Hades to return its spoils.
Dies Venit
Now heralds, passing through desponding Hades,Proclaim: “Salvete, O my Lords and Ladies!
Here ends the penance, here unbars the prison:
Into the light ascend, for He is risen!”
The Hades into which Christ descended was an inward
world, which keeps many spirits in prison besides those
XXXVIII
NOBIS QUOQUE PECCATORIBUS
The greatest work in the world is that of building bridges.
De Profundis
Though oft I have fallen by the way, Mother mine,Yet I have not turn'd my face aside from Thee;
And Father, loving Father, in the world that is Thine
Thy great white light of glory I have look'd to see.
Take me then, for I am weary, I beseech Thee,
And I do not dread the gulfs or wastes between;
Lift me upward, being merciful, to reach Thee,
If I cannot cross the seas that intervene.
But even the intervening seas are the emanations of mercy.
XXXIX
PATER NOSTER
The invocation of the Kingdom is also the invocation of ravishment.
The Kingdom
O Salem, City on the mountain-top!O promised land of honey and of milk!
O Aden, Eden, land of holy dream!
O House of God! With all its gardens girt,
Far shines the mystic City of the Soul,
City of Dream, City of our Desire,
And all who look thereon do evermore
Carry strange longings in their haunted eyes.
O Temples, palaces for chosen souls!
O floral emblems! O prophetic trees!
O visionary voices—the long days
And nights enchanting—of thy streams, thy birds!
O purple dreamland, infinite ecstasy!
The food of the visible frame is also the body of God.
XL
LIBERA NOS, QUAESUMUS
When man enters into the Holy Place, the Kingdom comes.
Fellowship
When darkness falls upon the life of mind;When utter sickness to the heart assign'd
Makes morbid thoughts on all our days intrude;
When uncompanion'd in our need we stand,
One is still with us in the shrouded land—
Our own soul with us in the solitude.
Set therefore free the soul and let her cease
From evil, knowing what is right and wrong;
And seeing that her days in Thine are long
Grant that her endless days be also peace!
He who has found his soul is never alone.
XLI
AGNUS DEI
Both the emissary and the imputation are in one sense the symbolical embroideries of pontifical vestments.
Presages
On common auguries and omens longHas man in legend dwelt, in tale and song,
But to the body and its varied need
His signs and presages alone give heed,
Leaving those deeper symbols all unread
Which say: The soul is sick, the soul is dead,
The soul is menaced by surpassing ill.
Fear not malignant stars which may control
The outward fortunes; fear those stars within
Which on the wide horizon of the soul
With baleful rays illume the night of sin.
But that dread most which lets our evil plight
Restrain the clamour after all God's light;
Whate'er I am, whatever yet may be,
Master of all, I keep the quest of Thee.
Save me from these old stains I care not how;
Then one thing more I need—but that is Thou!
The purpose of life is that of emancipating stars. It is we who condone substitutes and accept approximations for realities.
XLII
DOMINE JESU CHRISTE
In things above, as in things below, when the King is thought to be dead, our cry should be: Long live the King!
Eucharistica
Poor, foolish penitent, whose streaming eyesSee Christus dead in agony, He lives;
Take comfort; He comes down into thy heart:
Thou hast received Him in thy sacrament.
Beyond the symbol of the, old beliefs stretch the great fields of faith.
XLIII
DOMINE, NON SUM DIGNUS
But the prince in banishment is not less the royal prince.
Misdirection
We have falter'd in the way that they directedWho set us first to walk in the true way;
We have palter'd with the truth which they expected
We should set so high before us,
And the banners that are o'er us
Are the ensigns of a nation gone astray.
This notwithstanding, all roads may lead to the spiritual Rome, for all converge, at one point or another, in the true and only path.
XLIV
ITE, MISSA EST
It does not really signify that the way is long, if it is that which leads home.
Stars of Empire
From East to West the soul her journey takes,At many bitter founts her fever slakes,
Halts at strange taverns by the way to feast,
Resumes her load and painful progress makes
Back to the East.
Many travels and many metamorphoses may still remain, both within and without the long chronicles of vanity. It is only by a title of limitation that the Mass is said to be finished.
XLV
THE SECOND GOSPEL
Undeclared
Wisdom with its trumpet wordIn a myriad volumes heard;
All which unto love belongs
Chanted in uncounted songs,
Up and down the endless ages;
Things divine in sacred pages—
As the sands of the seashore—
Taught with tongues of gold of yore:
When to-morrow is to-day,
What can still remain to say?
One thing look'd for—one unheard;
Only that unutter'd word,
Echoes of the sense of which
All our spoken words enrich,
And shall yet, with clarion call,
Alter and transmute them all.
It is for this reason that literature is itself a mystery, operated by the convention of instituted rites.
XLVI
DEO GRATIAS
There is drought and there is weariness; but so long as we go forward, it is well.
Gratias Agimus
The place of Thy peace is the place of a perfect light.We have thank'd Thee, O Lord, in the night
For the night and the splendid day:
It is meet in the depth of the darkness and meet on the shining height.
But oh for that place of Thy peace,
For the glory which does not cease
And the star which fades not away.
Grant, at the end of all, we may give Thee our thanks as we enter
The palace of perfect union which shines in Thy light at the centre.
Et nox sicut dies illuminabitur.
XLVII
A VALEDICTORY ASPIRATION
Let us pray, in fine, for those truly sacred offices which are not in reality conferred by any right of succession, but do at times impose themselves.
Of Priestcraft
Or if God would grant it now and here,
One boon, I wot,
Should wreathe my lot
As the star is wreathed by a fire—
Fair aim, high purpose, but far, I fear!
Vain strife to utter what can't be said;
And it should be mine
The bread and wine,
By mighty mass-words deified,
To change in substance from wine and bread.
Or—little matters—in crowded street,
With a soul contrite,
From altar's height
I would nourish the empty heart
With hidden manna and angels' meat.
Though the higher part of faith is mine;
'Tis the gift to know
That here below,
Fair as the blazon'd signs are set
They shadow only the things divine.
The types it mixes with things foreshewn,
And a place denies
To the too keen eyes
Which past the mundane types can see,
And, symbols past, to the truth unknown.
Somehow, somewhere—it shall come to pass,
While I still live,
That my King shall give
To me, like Lancelot, Knight of old,
Grace, and a twelvemonth to sing my Mass.
| The collected poems of Arthur Edward Waite | |