English Roses by F. Harald Williams [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
ON THE KNEES OF THE GODS. |
| V. |
| VI. |
 | English Roses |  |
ON THE KNEES OF THE GODS.
Throned on their thunder heights calmly the Great Gods sit,
Veiléd in dreadful lights, ruling the laws unwrit;
Solemn and lone, each on his throne,
Awful and infinite.
Up in the glory sacred and hoary, reading the story
Lived by the peopled lands,
Turning the pages which are the ages in the earth stages
With their imperial hands.
Far beyond care and crime guarding what no man sees,
Issues of every time, fruitage from all the trees;
Silent they hold the counsels old,
Safe on their judgment knees.
Veiléd in dreadful lights, ruling the laws unwrit;
Solemn and lone, each on his throne,
Awful and infinite.
Up in the glory sacred and hoary, reading the story
Lived by the peopled lands,
Turning the pages which are the ages in the earth stages
With their imperial hands.
Far beyond care and crime guarding what no man sees,
Issues of every time, fruitage from all the trees;
Silent they hold the counsels old,
Safe on their judgment knees.
Strong above noise and strife, sternly with iron will
Meting the threads of life coloured by good and ill,
Woven of shade and shine and made
Baneful and blessèd still.
Lost in the splendid darkness extended, just and defended
By the eternal Fate;
There in the lustre of clouds that cluster, always they muster
Lots at the golden gate.
Tranquil and free from grief, drawing the ends of things
Out of the rare relief blent with the bitter strings;
Changeless they guide the mortal tide,
Virtues and vanishings.
Meting the threads of life coloured by good and ill,
Woven of shade and shine and made
Baneful and blessèd still.
Lost in the splendid darkness extended, just and defended
By the eternal Fate;
There in the lustre of clouds that cluster, always they muster
Lots at the golden gate.
481
Out of the rare relief blent with the bitter strings;
Changeless they guide the mortal tide,
Virtues and vanishings.
On through our tangled web wrought by the troublous years,
Touched not by flow or ebb, shifting in faiths and fears
Secret and sure, wise and secure,
Ever they portion tears.
While the worlds slumber wrapt in their cumber clogging, they number
Destinies grave on high;
Terribly keeping watch on our creeping orbs, with unsleeping
Gaze to which all is nigh.
Dynasties come and go, systems may rise and set,
Suns of a centuried glow sink into nothing yet;
But they must live and not forgive,
Nor at the last forget.
Touched not by flow or ebb, shifting in faiths and fears
Secret and sure, wise and secure,
Ever they portion tears.
While the worlds slumber wrapt in their cumber clogging, they number
Destinies grave on high;
Terribly keeping watch on our creeping orbs, with unsleeping
Gaze to which all is nigh.
Dynasties come and go, systems may rise and set,
Suns of a centuried glow sink into nothing yet;
But they must live and not forgive,
Nor at the last forget.
Walled by devouring fire dim is the Great Gods' seat,
Where they fulfil desire which we can nowise cheat;
Shrouded and pale, they tell our tale
In that august retreat.
Grandly, with holy labours and slowly down on these lowly
Duties, at ease they look;
Barred from molesting pain and infesting evil, unresting,
While they record the Book.
With predetermined plan as cups drained to the lees,
Hasteless they deal to man what he but vainly flees;
For earth and sky, Necessity
Falls from the impassive knees.
Where they fulfil desire which we can nowise cheat;
Shrouded and pale, they tell our tale
In that august retreat.
Grandly, with holy labours and slowly down on these lowly
Duties, at ease they look;
Barred from molesting pain and infesting evil, unresting,
While they record the Book.
With predetermined plan as cups drained to the lees,
Hasteless they deal to man what he but vainly flees;
For earth and sky, Necessity
Falls from the impassive knees.
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