 | A Book of Dreams |  |
33
A PALACE.
In a vast court are many fountains playing,
Upon their silver spray the moonlight falls,
With broken shadows down their long line straying,
About them stand the great quadrangle walls.
Upon their silver spray the moonlight falls,
With broken shadows down their long line straying,
About them stand the great quadrangle walls.
Like spreading lakes the even waters sleeping
Within their banks of marble brim the space;
Bright columns upward from their surface leaping,
And flashing through the wide enchanted place.
Within their banks of marble brim the space;
Bright columns upward from their surface leaping,
And flashing through the wide enchanted place.
The countless casements from afar look down,
The moonbeams sparkle on them full and fair,
I never once have seen them open thrown,
Nor any face for but a moment there.
The moonbeams sparkle on them full and fair,
I never once have seen them open thrown,
Nor any face for but a moment there.
34
In the lone nights it is a long delight
To bathe at will in those moon-lighted waves,
Floating from fountain unto fountain white,
Into the heart of their foam-wreathen caves.
To bathe at will in those moon-lighted waves,
Floating from fountain unto fountain white,
Into the heart of their foam-wreathen caves.
Where, bubbling up and up and curling o'er,
Their mazy circles break, and from them all
A thousand waves at once bewildering pour
In the swift dashing of the waterfall.
Their mazy circles break, and from them all
A thousand waves at once bewildering pour
In the swift dashing of the waterfall.
And passing under them, to lie beside
The tall thin columns held in glittering thread,
That high in air drop their cold showers aside,
Slow and delicious on the yielding bed.
The tall thin columns held in glittering thread,
That high in air drop their cold showers aside,
Slow and delicious on the yielding bed.
Enfolded round in all that liquid chillness,
Shadowed among the shadows, it is sweet,
Borne scarcely moving through the smoothèd stillness,
Where musical the flowing waters meet.
Shadowed among the shadows, it is sweet,
Borne scarcely moving through the smoothèd stillness,
Where musical the flowing waters meet.
I weary not, for ever-changing dashes
From the dark ripple of the endless pool
The margin-mist of pearl, and diamond flashes
Shoot towards the stars, with wafts of winnowing cool.
From the dark ripple of the endless pool
The margin-mist of pearl, and diamond flashes
Shoot towards the stars, with wafts of winnowing cool.
35
Ceaseless they stream, far down in rapid glimmer
They mingle still and pour above, below,
Passing into the shadow dim and dimmer;—
I have not seen their end nor where they go.
They mingle still and pour above, below,
Passing into the shadow dim and dimmer;—
I have not seen their end nor where they go.
I cannot tell within what lonely land
These watery ranges are enclosed and laid,
Nor the surrounding piles that silent stand
Stretching afar in broken light and shade.
These watery ranges are enclosed and laid,
Nor the surrounding piles that silent stand
Stretching afar in broken light and shade.
Nor by what spell at nights they reappear,
When they have long been lost and out of mind,
The same as they have stood for many a year,
With darkness all around them and behind.
When they have long been lost and out of mind,
The same as they have stood for many a year,
With darkness all around them and behind.
These marble courts have been so long deserted,
My step the solitude rings through and through,
Half fearful of itself and half uncertain
If in its echoes others mingle too.
My step the solitude rings through and through,
Half fearful of itself and half uncertain
If in its echoes others mingle too.
Some presence, hiding part and part revealing,
Lurks in each darkling porch and buttress cleft;
From pillar unto pillar quickly stealing,
I cross the ground, looking not right nor left.
Lurks in each darkling porch and buttress cleft;
From pillar unto pillar quickly stealing,
I cross the ground, looking not right nor left.
36
Till shelterless the moon's full rays discover
A terrible white stretch of snow-white stone;
An unknown peril drives me breathless over,
Yet having passed, I still am there alone.
A terrible white stretch of snow-white stone;
An unknown peril drives me breathless over,
Yet having passed, I still am there alone.
And entering through the palace-doorways open,
I find the vast and empty halls my own;
Year after year the place has been familiar,
Yet its whole length has never yet been known.
I find the vast and empty halls my own;
Year after year the place has been familiar,
Yet its whole length has never yet been known.
Dimly and softly lamps unseen are burning
All down the endless vista every side,
Broad flights of stately stairs lead upward turning
In shadowy heights, and right and left divide.
All down the endless vista every side,
Broad flights of stately stairs lead upward turning
In shadowy heights, and right and left divide.
And other sombre staircases are leading
Down underground mysterious and cold;
Opening all round, and out of sight receding
The long and vaulted corridors unfold.
Down underground mysterious and cold;
Opening all round, and out of sight receding
The long and vaulted corridors unfold.
Into this deep and labyrinthine hollow,
Where the same mild unchanging light has shone,
Fearless and with a keen intent I follow
Through empty passages still on and on.
Where the same mild unchanging light has shone,
Fearless and with a keen intent I follow
Through empty passages still on and on.
37
Each time I find myself within the winding
Of this low wandering crypt known but to me,
This time at least must fortune favour, finding
At last, I hope, the long-sought mystery.
Of this low wandering crypt known but to me,
This time at least must fortune favour, finding
At last, I hope, the long-sought mystery.
Yet it remaineth without end or reading,
Suddenly gone, before I touch the clue:—
On other days my search bends upwards, leading
To the dim galleries lengthened out of view.
Suddenly gone, before I touch the clue:—
On other days my search bends upwards, leading
To the dim galleries lengthened out of view.
Door after door all down the archways splendid
I open and I enter, and behold
The dusky rows of chambers never-ended,
All richly furnished, waiting as of old.
I open and I enter, and behold
The dusky rows of chambers never-ended,
All richly furnished, waiting as of old.
But never any sign of presence living,
Nor sound of any movement but my own,
As fast I tread the floors of velvet giving
A muffled echo to my steps alone.
Nor sound of any movement but my own,
As fast I tread the floors of velvet giving
A muffled echo to my steps alone.
They stand and wait, in unexplorèd number,
Darkling in gloom confused that shifts and errs.
—Through the recesses of its charmèd slumber,
Yet are there other nights when something stirs.
Darkling in gloom confused that shifts and errs.
—Through the recesses of its charmèd slumber,
Yet are there other nights when something stirs.
38
And all the great mysterious mansion quivers,
And moves, with shadows everywhere unseen
But close at hand; yet none of them delivers
By speech or shape what their uprisings mean.
And moves, with shadows everywhere unseen
But close at hand; yet none of them delivers
By speech or shape what their uprisings mean.
All is awakened, and the night is trembling
With a strange sense of wonder and of fear;
Who knoweth what they are, or why assembling,
That have possession of the darkness here?
With a strange sense of wonder and of fear;
Who knoweth what they are, or why assembling,
That have possession of the darkness here?
The fear grows fast,—I fly,—as if pursuing
The palace all behind me seems to close;
But opens still before at the undoing
Of each new door, and still new scenes it shows.
The palace all behind me seems to close;
But opens still before at the undoing
Of each new door, and still new scenes it shows.
Between the gilded rooms, no signal guiding,
With trembling fingers I unlock the door,
Knowing not but that at the next in hiding
I meet the very thing I flee before.
With trembling fingers I unlock the door,
Knowing not but that at the next in hiding
I meet the very thing I flee before.
Yet still the fear is mastered by the wonder,
The swift, strange glimpses fresh at every turn,
The secret things that lie beyond and under
Impatient to my restless question burn.
The swift, strange glimpses fresh at every turn,
The secret things that lie beyond and under
Impatient to my restless question burn.
39
The heavy curtains sweep in purple shimmering
Down the whole height of the luxurious walls,
And from the pictured ceilings silver glimmering
A fluctuating lustre softly falls.
Down the whole height of the luxurious walls,
And from the pictured ceilings silver glimmering
A fluctuating lustre softly falls.
Books are there, floating perfumes, vases golden,
Unfolded silken coverings orient-dyed,
Signs all about of costly service holden,
And scattered robes thrown carelessly aside.
Unfolded silken coverings orient-dyed,
Signs all about of costly service holden,
And scattered robes thrown carelessly aside.
Within these mazes manifold entangled
I traversing these great saloons perceive
Each of them has four doors and stands four-angled,
And one of these I choose, and three I leave.
I traversing these great saloons perceive
Each of them has four doors and stands four-angled,
And one of these I choose, and three I leave.
Which is the right one? But no time to ponder,
For the wild terror seizes me too near;
Behind me the unseen, before me yonder
The unknown—both a breathless rush of fear.
For the wild terror seizes me too near;
Behind me the unseen, before me yonder
The unknown—both a breathless rush of fear.
If I should miss!—then all at once is over;—
And yet not fear alone my flight compels:
The longing some strange secret to discover
Is still the strongest of these silent spells.
And yet not fear alone my flight compels:
The longing some strange secret to discover
Is still the strongest of these silent spells.
40
Dashing through one, and in an instant's glancing
Choosing the next, and bounding straight across
The spacious passage, in the swift advancing
Of those who follow, every moment's loss
Choosing the next, and bounding straight across
The spacious passage, in the swift advancing
Of those who follow, every moment's loss
Destruction!—scarce my fingers turn for trembling
The handle, and no time to draw it close;
Open behind me streams the endless mystery
Of all this magic midnight house of foes.
The handle, and no time to draw it close;
Open behind me streams the endless mystery
Of all this magic midnight house of foes.
Yet, head to foot with the approaching capture
Panting and shuddering, mingles therewithal
An unexplained and unaccounted rapture
As of some mighty marvel to befall.
Panting and shuddering, mingles therewithal
An unexplained and unaccounted rapture
As of some mighty marvel to befall.
I turn at length, still onward blindly speeding,
Into one room from whose enclosing wall
There is no other door nor opening leading;
—I am at the inmost chamber of them all!
Into one room from whose enclosing wall
There is no other door nor opening leading;
—I am at the inmost chamber of them all!
Here is the end, and I am trapped within it;
My eyes are hidden waiting for the blow
To fall,—at last has come the fatal minute:—
For what?—I wake, and still I do not know.
My eyes are hidden waiting for the blow
To fall,—at last has come the fatal minute:—
For what?—I wake, and still I do not know.
| A Book of Dreams | |