Matin Bells and Scarlet and Gold By "F. Harald Williams"[i.e. F. W. O. Ward]. First Edition |
 |
| I. |
| II. |
THE CIRCLE OF LIFE. |
| III. |
|
| IV. |
| V. |
|
|
| I. |
| II. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
 | Matin Bells and Scarlet and Gold |  |
THE CIRCLE OF LIFE.
My heart and I—
We were resolved to conquer earth,
To meet its hate and direr mirth
And heart of stone, unarmed, alone—
If we should die—
Yet build of thought a lasting throne
Claspt by no vulgar golden girth,
Right in the Temple of the Gods
Above the passing periods—
The place of thunder,
Where wisdom with its fateful dower
Is more than peace and more than power,
And riddling life is rent asunder.
My heart and I,
We were resolved to do or die.
We were resolved to conquer earth,
To meet its hate and direr mirth
And heart of stone, unarmed, alone—
If we should die—
Yet build of thought a lasting throne
Claspt by no vulgar golden girth,
Right in the Temple of the Gods
Above the passing periods—
The place of thunder,
Where wisdom with its fateful dower
Is more than peace and more than power,
And riddling life is rent asunder.
My heart and I,
We were resolved to do or die.
My heart and I—
We sought the Cities of the Plain
Re-risen and brighter from the slain,
And saw the years like ripened ears—
But did not die—
Go with their splendid faiths and fears,
To lighten other lands again;
We battled with the burdening flesh,
And fainting still stood up afresh
Upon the mountain
Of refuge in its iron arms,
The stronger from the cheated charms,
And drinking of the muddied fountain.
My heart and I
Saw visions dark, and did not die.
We sought the Cities of the Plain
Re-risen and brighter from the slain,
And saw the years like ripened ears—
But did not die—
Go with their splendid faiths and fears,
To lighten other lands again;
We battled with the burdening flesh,
And fainting still stood up afresh
Upon the mountain
116
The stronger from the cheated charms,
And drinking of the muddied fountain.
My heart and I
Saw visions dark, and did not die.
My heart and I—
We hungered yet and journeyed on
And reached the mighty Babylon,
With turrets tall and ripe for fall—
But did not die—
And read the writing on the wall,
Uplifted with a doom foregone;
We feasted like the revellers,
And watched with grey astrologers
The starry pages,
When on the mapt-out midnight sky
They tasted of Eternity,
And tracked the orbit of the ages.
My heart and I
Read awful truths, and did not die.
We hungered yet and journeyed on
And reached the mighty Babylon,
With turrets tall and ripe for fall—
But did not die—
And read the writing on the wall,
Uplifted with a doom foregone;
We feasted like the revellers,
And watched with grey astrologers
The starry pages,
When on the mapt-out midnight sky
They tasted of Eternity,
And tracked the orbit of the ages.
My heart and I
Read awful truths, and did not die.
My heart and I—
We went to Egypt in the morn
Of history to get us corn,
And at her gates like frozen fates—
But did not die—
We marked a hundred vassal States,
That filled her flowing cup of scorn;
The grave that locks in silent lids,
The secret of the Pyramids;
The mystic teacher
That takes no lessons out of time,
In that stone pulpit above crime,
And is a text for every preacher.
My heart and I,
Enigmas too, yet did not die.
We went to Egypt in the morn
Of history to get us corn,
And at her gates like frozen fates—
But did not die—
We marked a hundred vassal States,
That filled her flowing cup of scorn;
The grave that locks in silent lids,
The secret of the Pyramids;
The mystic teacher
That takes no lessons out of time,
In that stone pulpit above crime,
And is a text for every preacher.
My heart and I,
Enigmas too, yet did not die.
My heart and I—
We came to Athens in the sweet
Of moonlight, and at her fair feet
Sat gently down beneath her crown—
But did not die—
And talked of learning and renown,
The forms of things, in vision fleet
Which ranged through Space and under skies
Of blue, with young philosophies;
The violet's bosom
Gave out its heart, the fancy shone,
And all the pillared Parthenon
Burst in a glory of white blossom.
My heart and I
Sat dreaming there, and did not die.
We came to Athens in the sweet
Of moonlight, and at her fair feet
117
But did not die—
And talked of learning and renown,
The forms of things, in vision fleet
Which ranged through Space and under skies
Of blue, with young philosophies;
The violet's bosom
Gave out its heart, the fancy shone,
And all the pillared Parthenon
Burst in a glory of white blossom.
My heart and I
Sat dreaming there, and did not die.
My heart and I—
We found a lodging place in Rome,
A world, but no sufficient home
Amid her throng and regal wrong—
But did not die—
And buildings fair as carven song,
Which bare up heaven upon their dome;
We faced her wrath like ramping fire,
The crowned sin, the scarlet tire;
From marble letters
We reaped no rest, with higher hopes
That laughed at earthly horoscopes—
The proudest piles were only fetters.
My heart and I
Endured the death, and did not die.
We found a lodging place in Rome,
A world, but no sufficient home
Amid her throng and regal wrong—
But did not die—
And buildings fair as carven song,
Which bare up heaven upon their dome;
We faced her wrath like ramping fire,
The crowned sin, the scarlet tire;
From marble letters
We reaped no rest, with higher hopes
That laughed at earthly horoscopes—
The proudest piles were only fetters.
My heart and I
Endured the death, and did not die.
My heart and I—
We journeyed on, we travelled west
And suckled at the bloody breast
Without a name, with rites of shame—
But did not die—
And never touched the Fount of Fame,
In superstition black, unblest;
We noted but the accursed might,
And dreadful knowledge with no light;
The radiant revels,
Tremendous fanes, and crowded courts
Which storm-tost minds deemed pleasant ports,
Were but the glorious freaks of devils.
My heart and I
Escaped their tomb, and did not die.
We journeyed on, we travelled west
And suckled at the bloody breast
Without a name, with rites of shame—
But did not die—
And never touched the Fount of Fame,
In superstition black, unblest;
We noted but the accursed might,
And dreadful knowledge with no light;
The radiant revels,
Tremendous fanes, and crowded courts
Which storm-tost minds deemed pleasant ports,
118
My heart and I
Escaped their tomb, and did not die.
My heart and I—
We saw the triumph of the Cross,
And in the new world's omphalos
Another bliss by Tamesis—
But did not die—
With man reborn, but made amiss
As by a science Setebos;
Gigantic shows, a nightmare shade,
God wooed as partner in the trade—
A decent cover
To veil the fraud and monstrous vice,
And souls an easy sacrifice
To Fashion and the richest lover.
My heart and I
Long sickened there, and did not die.
We saw the triumph of the Cross,
And in the new world's omphalos
Another bliss by Tamesis—
But did not die—
With man reborn, but made amiss
As by a science Setebos;
Gigantic shows, a nightmare shade,
God wooed as partner in the trade—
A decent cover
To veil the fraud and monstrous vice,
And souls an easy sacrifice
To Fashion and the richest lover.
My heart and I
Long sickened there, and did not die.
My heart and I—
We humbly turned upon our track
With empty arms and voyaged back,
By sea and shore and city store—
But did not die—
And swore we would not wander more,
When all the harvest proved but lack;
Low burned the candle now of life,
Betwixt its curtain and the strife;
The little cottage
Still welcomed us with outstretched hands,
And love not found in storied lands
With holy kiss and mess of pottage.
My heart and I
Had weathered worlds, and did not die.
We humbly turned upon our track
With empty arms and voyaged back,
By sea and shore and city store—
But did not die—
And swore we would not wander more,
When all the harvest proved but lack;
Low burned the candle now of life,
Betwixt its curtain and the strife;
The little cottage
Still welcomed us with outstretched hands,
And love not found in storied lands
With holy kiss and mess of pottage.
My heart and I
Had weathered worlds, and did not die.
My heart and I—
We found the temple of the Gods,
Unsentinelled by sacred rods,
Or bolts and bars and cruel Mars—
But did not die—
Among the lesser earthly stars,
The heaven where hourly labour plods;
It rose beneath the foot of trust,
And columned sprang from splendid dust;
But red from slaughter
Or rank with lying breath of men,
Fame entered not our lowly ken
And everywhere was writ in water.
My heart and I
Abode in Truth, and did not die.
We found the temple of the Gods,
Unsentinelled by sacred rods,
Or bolts and bars and cruel Mars—
But did not die—
119
The heaven where hourly labour plods;
It rose beneath the foot of trust,
And columned sprang from splendid dust;
But red from slaughter
Or rank with lying breath of men,
Fame entered not our lowly ken
And everywhere was writ in water.
My heart and I
Abode in Truth, and did not die.
| Matin Bells and Scarlet and Gold | |