 | Tiresias |  |
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BOOK IV. CHARICLO AND TIRESIAS.
“When preening downy breasts the waterfowlQuiver, ere spreading timorous wings to rise
From water freshened with the breath of morn,
And span the dazzled distance into space;
So freshly wing our lives Tiresias,
So bright with promise are the days to come.”
“O Mother, grateful sound! Fair are thy words;
And touch me as pale shivering in the leaves
Whispers of rainy wind on scorching days,
Before the summer showers on meads athirst
Awaken hushed and grateful murmurings;
So thirsting I thy pleasant accents take,
And like the warblers roundabout I hear
I would in music like to their's respond!
And touch me as pale shivering in the leaves
Whispers of rainy wind on scorching days,
Before the summer showers on meads athirst
Awaken hushed and grateful murmurings;
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And like the warblers roundabout I hear
I would in music like to their's respond!
“That vision of annihilated Greeks,
Tho' justly due to vengeance, wrings my heart.
Save for my strange God-stricken destiny,
Could I not hope by mixing much with men,
Thro' clear, persuasive, seasonable words,
To reach their temper at the wavering pause;
And, gently aiding undetermined bent,
To turn their footsteps into settled ways
Approved by wisdom, and of Gods beloved!
But now, alas, unable, I discern,
Dimly as thro' a veil, our people range
Disorderly wide trackless waste, with eyes
Hard set on fancies they have cast before,
To find delusive nothing in their grasp;
Or phantoms fair that smile and lure advance,
Till seized at length they change to demons dire
And rend them out of life!”
Tho' justly due to vengeance, wrings my heart.
Save for my strange God-stricken destiny,
Could I not hope by mixing much with men,
Thro' clear, persuasive, seasonable words,
To reach their temper at the wavering pause;
And, gently aiding undetermined bent,
To turn their footsteps into settled ways
Approved by wisdom, and of Gods beloved!
But now, alas, unable, I discern,
Dimly as thro' a veil, our people range
Disorderly wide trackless waste, with eyes
Hard set on fancies they have cast before,
To find delusive nothing in their grasp;
Or phantoms fair that smile and lure advance,
Till seized at length they change to demons dire
And rend them out of life!”
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And tuned on tender chords, Tiresias!
But the dread Goddess, is Her charge forgot?
Not lightly will She pardon shouldst thou fail
In reverent concord with Her will divine.
Thine own bow in obedience, nor allow
Winged hopes to hover where they may not rest;
For Gods despise the foolish tears of men
Born of unchecked desire. No, let the vain
Hither and thither gad a senseless dance,
Their course of no more count than wind-borne leaves.
Exalted, thou shalt know the living truth
Athena signified, and sun thy soul
In ever-varying beauty born of law
That love, wing-folded from pursuit, adores.
It is not thine to toil and herd with men,
Who fondly trust they track their purposes,
But are blind shuttles in the loom of Fate,
Each working out his doom. Thy deathless glance
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Enwrapt thee Her's in worship evermore:
For having seen perfection in pure light,
No earthly memory can seem to thee
Other than darkness shown by glimmering rays,
Or form unfashioned yet to comely shape.
Thy mortal loss being thus immortal gain,
Saved art thou now the dolour and despair
Of seeing wounds thou lackest skill to heal;
Or tottering blindness that will not be led;
And, breathing air attempered to response,
The voices of the high Olympian Gods
Shall sanction thine in music with Their own.”
“Take, take, O Mother, take my trembling thanks!
As beat his heart who clomb to weary heights
When blew the gracious zephyrs round his brow;
So braced by loving words, my life rebounds
Within obedient range, and gathers strength
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Athena's self disclosed.
“Once on a day,
Upon the ledge of rock that overhangs
Where one huge torrent thrills the mountaincleft,
I lay and listened to the constant roar
Of leaves and water musically mixed,
And heard high voices of the earth and air,
Discourse of stars, and whisper of the force
That vomits blocks of fire, or by a smile
Clusters the primroses to living light.
Rapt thus lay I and wondered.
As they kiss,
Are tempests fired with transport mortals feel
When eager lips unite? Or, is it hate,
When in mad thunder rushing they expire!
“While thus by strangeness lured, or beauty caught;
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For future pondering in some happy hour;
More purely blew the wind; a glory smote
These sightless balls as on that day of doom
When I beheld Her silent on the grass
And clad in light alone. But now Her voice
Pierced me with music, such as wildest love
Could never hope for utterance, tho' his fate
Hung in the balance of a blissful word.
“‘Hail my Tiresias, to the Gods endeared!
Thy thoughts wing happily an even pace,
And happily alight to muse their gains.
Thy swift exultant march cut off and balked
By sheer impossibility,
Thou didst not dash thy breast against the wall,
And bruised and bleeding, clamour unto Gods
For aid to break the laws themselves obey;
But meek, submissive, paid'st thy forfeiture
Without rebellious questioning, or hope
The will of Gods might change for thy behoof.
Thus, tho' perforce a rugged path is thine,
Thy quickened sense shall be to thee a staff
To guide thee on thy way: for thou shalt feel
The wandering air, checked by the rocks and trees,
Beat backward on thy face; and steadfastly
Threading obstructions, as a bird in flight,
Pursue thy needs in safety as before.
Thy thoughts wing happily an even pace,
And happily alight to muse their gains.
Thy swift exultant march cut off and balked
By sheer impossibility,
Thou didst not dash thy breast against the wall,
And bruised and bleeding, clamour unto Gods
For aid to break the laws themselves obey;
But meek, submissive, paid'st thy forfeiture
Without rebellious questioning, or hope
The will of Gods might change for thy behoof.
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Thy quickened sense shall be to thee a staff
To guide thee on thy way: for thou shalt feel
The wandering air, checked by the rocks and trees,
Beat backward on thy face; and steadfastly
Threading obstructions, as a bird in flight,
Pursue thy needs in safety as before.
“ ‘When silvery dawn warms into golden day
And hearts of men are glad, the feathered world
In voices infinite salute the morn;
And stooping their horned brows the cattle graze
With faces toward the sun; their manes asweep,
Horses while thundering over plains proclaim
Their joy aloud in stormy clarion shouts;
While flocks at feed upon the happy hills,
Pause at short intervals to bleat delight;
And all awakened glow in life renewed
From dark unfeeling night. And thou shalt wake
From gloom to living glory; truth on truth
Unfolding lovely secrets to thy love,
Shall breathe their rarest sweetnesses unsought;
When thou shalt learn that loveliness in flowers
Is one with women and their gracious smiles;
And crawling eyeless worms that feed on clay
Own life identical with scornful man;
And woodland berries, fed on earth and air,
And every drop of dew that weights the grass
Is fashioned by the force that moulds the stars.
And hearts of men are glad, the feathered world
In voices infinite salute the morn;
And stooping their horned brows the cattle graze
With faces toward the sun; their manes asweep,
Horses while thundering over plains proclaim
Their joy aloud in stormy clarion shouts;
While flocks at feed upon the happy hills,
Pause at short intervals to bleat delight;
And all awakened glow in life renewed
From dark unfeeling night. And thou shalt wake
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Unfolding lovely secrets to thy love,
Shall breathe their rarest sweetnesses unsought;
When thou shalt learn that loveliness in flowers
Is one with women and their gracious smiles;
And crawling eyeless worms that feed on clay
Own life identical with scornful man;
And woodland berries, fed on earth and air,
And every drop of dew that weights the grass
Is fashioned by the force that moulds the stars.
“ ‘Clear to the wise, but hidden from the dull,
All life unites inspired by harmony,
From inborn essence to the outward hue;
And life, tho' ever-varying, onward moves
From earth thro' herbage and becomes the brute:
Thus men from earth divine the laws of heaven,
And seek by day the stars in deepest wells,
Tho' oft, by noon-sun dazzled, blind to flowers
In constellations shining at their feet!
All life unites inspired by harmony,
From inborn essence to the outward hue;
And life, tho' ever-varying, onward moves
From earth thro' herbage and becomes the brute:
Thus men from earth divine the laws of heaven,
And seek by day the stars in deepest wells,
Tho' oft, by noon-sun dazzled, blind to flowers
In constellations shining at their feet!
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“ ‘Thy soul responsive to their warbling tongues
Thou hear'st the stories little songsters tell
On thorns bloom-smothered in the odorous spring,
And read'st their merry-making poured aloof
In veiled security of loftiest leaves,
Or quivering upward singing into light.
Their witchery cast upon thy loosened lips
Shall tell in singing what was caught of songs
Tuned deep in woodland shade, or windy banks,
Or fields of spacious air. As now thine eyes
Are closed to every being of thy love,
Thou now art granted vision, grace divine
To penetrate and know each dark recess,
From subtle motives to their plain escape
In action issuing to remotest time.
And men shall be thy friends, in knowing thou
Can'st rightly scan what unto most will seem
An untold message or a senseless vaunt.
Thy sway shall be as kings'. Wise men shall take
Direction from thy maxims, proven and found
Trusty upon the strain, and furtherance
To purposes that strike and flower in deeds.
For thou, undoubting, undismayed, shalt know
The will of Gods, and speak the voice of Fate;
Resistless Fate for ever following fast
On any trodden pathway, foul or fair!
Thou hear'st the stories little songsters tell
On thorns bloom-smothered in the odorous spring,
And read'st their merry-making poured aloof
In veiled security of loftiest leaves,
Or quivering upward singing into light.
Their witchery cast upon thy loosened lips
Shall tell in singing what was caught of songs
Tuned deep in woodland shade, or windy banks,
Or fields of spacious air. As now thine eyes
Are closed to every being of thy love,
Thou now art granted vision, grace divine
To penetrate and know each dark recess,
From subtle motives to their plain escape
In action issuing to remotest time.
And men shall be thy friends, in knowing thou
Can'st rightly scan what unto most will seem
An untold message or a senseless vaunt.
Thy sway shall be as kings'. Wise men shall take
Direction from thy maxims, proven and found
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To purposes that strike and flower in deeds.
For thou, undoubting, undismayed, shalt know
The will of Gods, and speak the voice of Fate;
Resistless Fate for ever following fast
On any trodden pathway, foul or fair!
“ ‘But many a harvest moon shall light the land,
And many a season will release its showers,
And gather night in midday thunderstorms,
Ere men will give a welcome to thy words;
For, as at peril, will they start, and shun
The plainest blessing pregnant with delight,
When seen in guise unknown to them before.
And many a season will release its showers,
And gather night in midday thunderstorms,
Ere men will give a welcome to thy words;
For, as at peril, will they start, and shun
The plainest blessing pregnant with delight,
When seen in guise unknown to them before.
But meantime can'st thou loiter while the grass
Plays to the pleasant singing of the rain;
And join in laughter when tempestuous fire
Rioting shatters throughout iron skies
In far redoubled roars that shake the world,
And rends an azure emptiness in space.
Plays to the pleasant singing of the rain;
And join in laughter when tempestuous fire
Rioting shatters throughout iron skies
In far redoubled roars that shake the world,
And rends an azure emptiness in space.
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Flower-laden winds shall breathe and whisper thee
If over primroses or violets borne,
Or deeply-blushing roses sore ashamed,
To languish zephyr-plundered of their sweets.
Softly, with babbling lips, these winds shall lisp
Of timorous lovers glimmering in the dawn,
And sighing for noontide's unattainable
Delight of brightest heaven. Or they shall tell
Of streams, where golden-hearted lotus flowers
Shed spectral light beneath the gloom of plams;
Where dusky women launch their babes to float,
Then in the water flashing breast the flow;
Or bring dark hints of contest from afar
Where numbers meet in fell resolve to smite
Each unknown other into senseless death.
If over primroses or violets borne,
Or deeply-blushing roses sore ashamed,
To languish zephyr-plundered of their sweets.
Softly, with babbling lips, these winds shall lisp
Of timorous lovers glimmering in the dawn,
And sighing for noontide's unattainable
Delight of brightest heaven. Or they shall tell
Of streams, where golden-hearted lotus flowers
Shed spectral light beneath the gloom of plams;
Where dusky women launch their babes to float,
Then in the water flashing breast the flow;
Or bring dark hints of contest from afar
Where numbers meet in fell resolve to smite
Each unknown other into senseless death.
“ ‘And thus in beauty hallowed safe art thou
From cares that poison gladness with distrust,
And doubts of danger that may never rise:
But open, unobstructed, as the flow
Of mighty rivers, will thy seasons glide,
That wind by many a reach of flowery mead
To find like others their great ocean home.’
From cares that poison gladness with distrust,
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But open, unobstructed, as the flow
Of mighty rivers, will thy seasons glide,
That wind by many a reach of flowery mead
To find like others their great ocean home.’
“Athena spake no more; and then I seemed
To traverse airily the boundless waves,
Wind-borne thro' space and penetrating light,
That glorified my being as the flowers
Are glorified by morn. The Goddess' words
Still singing by me, underneath my feet,
In shoals the wondrous creatures of the deep,
Of richest hues and silvery brightness sped,
By huge ones followed swiftly and devoured.
And passing over cities I beheld
Great nations spread and cover smaller states,
And flourish into temples, towers, and fleets;
Then coil themselves together, leopard-like,
To watch with evil eyes should any chance
Relax some other's guard, or weight his lids
In sleep, and give the fatal vantage sought.
Afar then I descried an eagle swoop
And strike a great swan soaring dead to earth;
But being near man's home, the eagle fled
Until the sun grew crimson, then returned
To gorge his prey; marked by a fowler, who
Hard by in ambush with a ready bow,
Pierced his fierce heart with death. The fowler, proud,
Boasting of twofold spoil and subtle skill,
Hoisted the prize for praises from his dame;
But she, cross-grained, upbraided him for loss
And waste on eagles, worthless on the board,
When all his children cried with hungry maws!
To her sharp tongue he daring no reply,
And needing solace, roundly beat his babes.
To traverse airily the boundless waves,
Wind-borne thro' space and penetrating light,
That glorified my being as the flowers
Are glorified by morn. The Goddess' words
Still singing by me, underneath my feet,
In shoals the wondrous creatures of the deep,
Of richest hues and silvery brightness sped,
By huge ones followed swiftly and devoured.
And passing over cities I beheld
Great nations spread and cover smaller states,
And flourish into temples, towers, and fleets;
Then coil themselves together, leopard-like,
To watch with evil eyes should any chance
Relax some other's guard, or weight his lids
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Afar then I descried an eagle swoop
And strike a great swan soaring dead to earth;
But being near man's home, the eagle fled
Until the sun grew crimson, then returned
To gorge his prey; marked by a fowler, who
Hard by in ambush with a ready bow,
Pierced his fierce heart with death. The fowler, proud,
Boasting of twofold spoil and subtle skill,
Hoisted the prize for praises from his dame;
But she, cross-grained, upbraided him for loss
And waste on eagles, worthless on the board,
When all his children cried with hungry maws!
To her sharp tongue he daring no reply,
And needing solace, roundly beat his babes.
“Such the strange pastime of that mighty world
I have for ever lost. Where beauty dies
Fresh in her dawn of trustful innocence,
Mammocked by ruthless force and cast away;
Where wise men bow unhonoured heads, while fools,
In loud-pitched shouts, assert that Wisdom's ways
Are better now forgot for pathways new,
Obvious and sweeping. Where lithe Falsehood's self,
Wearing a scanty garment filched from Truth,
Flaunts her bedizened foulness to the crowd,
Pronouncing Truth a worn-out blunderer,
Unneeded in this growing world of ours,
Where things so mixed and complex must be touched
By lighter fingers, or their bloom will fly!
And gaping multitudes agrin with joy
Strain their deep throats to inharmonious howl;
As wolves at midnight when they scent the fold,
And rage against her worthless purity,
Her worn-out useless rags. Tho' beaming clear
Her purity, clad in eternal light!
I have for ever lost. Where beauty dies
Fresh in her dawn of trustful innocence,
Mammocked by ruthless force and cast away;
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In loud-pitched shouts, assert that Wisdom's ways
Are better now forgot for pathways new,
Obvious and sweeping. Where lithe Falsehood's self,
Wearing a scanty garment filched from Truth,
Flaunts her bedizened foulness to the crowd,
Pronouncing Truth a worn-out blunderer,
Unneeded in this growing world of ours,
Where things so mixed and complex must be touched
By lighter fingers, or their bloom will fly!
And gaping multitudes agrin with joy
Strain their deep throats to inharmonious howl;
As wolves at midnight when they scent the fold,
And rage against her worthless purity,
Her worn-out useless rags. Tho' beaming clear
Her purity, clad in eternal light!
“All this is darkness murkier than the gloom
Whereon these blank orbs dwell; but when I heard
The door, by which ye entered, opening, came
With thy dear voice the welcome joy of love,
And now, within mine arms, to hear and and feel
My home, the beating of thy tuneful heart,
I have no other wish, but rest content;
Contented with my fate, and most with thee.”
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The door, by which ye entered, opening, came
With thy dear voice the welcome joy of love,
And now, within mine arms, to hear and and feel
My home, the beating of thy tuneful heart,
I have no other wish, but rest content;
Contented with my fate, and most with thee.”
| Tiresias | |