 | Studies from the Antique and Sketches from Nature |  |
10
ASTRÆA;
OR, THE DEPARTURE OF THE GODS.
There passed a shadow on the noonday sun,
And all the populous cities of the East
Poured upon housetop, tower, and battlement
Their countless multitudes, to watch and pray.
And all the populous cities of the East
Poured upon housetop, tower, and battlement
Their countless multitudes, to watch and pray.
The mountaineer stood sunward on the cliff,
Or knelt in terror as the shadow grew;
And fear-pale shepherds gathered on the plains,
And smote their breasts, or whispered, each to each,
Of mighty change, and prophecy fulfilled.
Or knelt in terror as the shadow grew;
And fear-pale shepherds gathered on the plains,
And smote their breasts, or whispered, each to each,
Of mighty change, and prophecy fulfilled.
From deepest gloom of overhanging boughs
Came the scared foresters to open glades,
That they might gaze upon the ominous Noon;
And having seen it, cover up their eyes
To wait in darkness the impending stroke
Of vague, unknown, inevitable Doom.
Came the scared foresters to open glades,
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And having seen it, cover up their eyes
To wait in darkness the impending stroke
Of vague, unknown, inevitable Doom.
Far on the Euxine and Egean seas
Adventurous sailors, hopelessly becalmed,
Looked at the useless helm or idle sail,
And called upon the gods of wave and wind,
And sea-nymphs, hidden in their coral caves,
To aid them in extremity forlorn:—
The gods and nymphs had sorrows of their own
Keener than mortal griefs, and heard them not.
Adventurous sailors, hopelessly becalmed,
Looked at the useless helm or idle sail,
And called upon the gods of wave and wind,
And sea-nymphs, hidden in their coral caves,
To aid them in extremity forlorn:—
The gods and nymphs had sorrows of their own
Keener than mortal griefs, and heard them not.
There was a sense of pain upon the world:
Wild beasts grew tame for terror; timid birds
Flew to men's bosoms for security;
The trembling lion herded with the kine;
The flow'rets closed their petals; and the leaves
And pendulous foliage of the forest trees
Quivered no more, but hung as carved in stone.
Wild beasts grew tame for terror; timid birds
Flew to men's bosoms for security;
The trembling lion herded with the kine;
The flow'rets closed their petals; and the leaves
And pendulous foliage of the forest trees
Quivered no more, but hung as carved in stone.
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The darkness gathered;—darker at full Noon
Than in the dense opaque of starless night;
And all the people of all climes and tongues,
Moaned infant-like, and wrung their clammy hands,
Or lay upon the sward as they were dead—
Save a few priests, and sages, and old men,
Who hoped or prayed; and some few babes that slept.
Than in the dense opaque of starless night;
And all the people of all climes and tongues,
Moaned infant-like, and wrung their clammy hands,
Or lay upon the sward as they were dead—
Save a few priests, and sages, and old men,
Who hoped or prayed; and some few babes that slept.
Light broke at last; a sudden haze of beams:
Lurid and fitful;—now like tongues of flame,
Speaking in thunder; now like blazing stars
Cast from their place, and reeling to the Earth,
For fellowship of ruin; now like swords
Unsheathed, titanic, from Orion's belt,
And splintering into comets as they clashed;
Now shooting up o'er all the western sky
In one pale, solemn, luminous Cross of Fire
That filled the Universe with tender light,
And made men hopeful—though they knew not why.
Lurid and fitful;—now like tongues of flame,
Speaking in thunder; now like blazing stars
Cast from their place, and reeling to the Earth,
For fellowship of ruin; now like swords
Unsheathed, titanic, from Orion's belt,
And splintering into comets as they clashed;
Now shooting up o'er all the western sky
In one pale, solemn, luminous Cross of Fire
That filled the Universe with tender light,
And made men hopeful—though they knew not why.
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It gleamed, it shone, it dimmed, it disappeared,
But left behind o'er all the purpling Heaven
The mellow twilight of a coming Day,
On which were shadowed as on Magic Glass
Phantasmal multitudes, and warring hosts
Of stature huge—huger a hundred-fold
Than white-peaked Atlas, Alp, or Ararat—
Who wheeled, and reeled, and struggled hand to hand
For mastery and dominion, and sole power
Over the Earth and Men. Perchance for Truth,
Perchance for Falsehood, strove the combatants;
But whether Truth or Falsehood, Right or Wrong,
The means were blood and sorrow; and the end
New agony—and still recurring war.
But left behind o'er all the purpling Heaven
The mellow twilight of a coming Day,
On which were shadowed as on Magic Glass
Phantasmal multitudes, and warring hosts
Of stature huge—huger a hundred-fold
Than white-peaked Atlas, Alp, or Ararat—
Who wheeled, and reeled, and struggled hand to hand
For mastery and dominion, and sole power
Over the Earth and Men. Perchance for Truth,
Perchance for Falsehood, strove the combatants;
But whether Truth or Falsehood, Right or Wrong,
The means were blood and sorrow; and the end
New agony—and still recurring war.
Again the Cross of Fire shot up through space,
Shone for a moment, and was lost from sight
In rolling cloud and uttermost eclipse;
And men were conscious of lament in Heaven,
And wail on Earth; of mournful words that swoll
Upon the feverish pulses of the wind,
And seemed to shape themselves in human speech—
“Farewell for ever! we return no more!”
Shone for a moment, and was lost from sight
In rolling cloud and uttermost eclipse;
And men were conscious of lament in Heaven,
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Upon the feverish pulses of the wind,
And seemed to shape themselves in human speech—
“Farewell for ever! we return no more!”
'Twas the foredoomed departure of the gods
From Earth to Heaven:—his high Olympian seat
Zeus had forsaken; and the Age of Gold,
When mortal with immortal might commune,
Had passed for ever. From the upper air
And from the darkened orbit of the sun,
Jarring in thunders, came the mournful voice
Of grey-haired Saturn; then Apollo spake,
With louder grief that shook the tuneful spheres;
Then Hera and the blue-eyed Diomed;
But Aphrodite, sorrowing more than they,
Framed into speech their passion and her own,
Her voice all tremulous and choked with tears:
“Farewell, farewell, to suffering human kind!
Farewell the flowery islands of the sea,
The hill-tops, and the valleys, and the groves;
Farewell the temples and the oracles,
And teeming cities where our praise was sung,
At morning and at evening sacrifice;
Farewell for ever! we return no more!”
From Earth to Heaven:—his high Olympian seat
Zeus had forsaken; and the Age of Gold,
When mortal with immortal might commune,
Had passed for ever. From the upper air
And from the darkened orbit of the sun,
Jarring in thunders, came the mournful voice
Of grey-haired Saturn; then Apollo spake,
With louder grief that shook the tuneful spheres;
Then Hera and the blue-eyed Diomed;
But Aphrodite, sorrowing more than they,
Framed into speech their passion and her own,
Her voice all tremulous and choked with tears:
“Farewell, farewell, to suffering human kind!
Farewell the flowery islands of the sea,
The hill-tops, and the valleys, and the groves;
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And teeming cities where our praise was sung,
At morning and at evening sacrifice;
Farewell for ever! we return no more!”
On the sea-beach, and far from sight of land,
Was heard a murmur. Men who strove to pierce
The mournful mystery, and translate in words
Articulate, the music of the moan,
Imagined they beheld Poseidon's robe
Trailing its sea-green folds upon the wave,
And fading formless into clouds and mist
As the voice spake: “Farewell, O pleasant sea!
O joyous waves! O billows of the rock!
O flowery shore, and amber-coloured sands!
Farewell for ever! we return no more!”
Was heard a murmur. Men who strove to pierce
The mournful mystery, and translate in words
Articulate, the music of the moan,
Imagined they beheld Poseidon's robe
Trailing its sea-green folds upon the wave,
And fading formless into clouds and mist
As the voice spake: “Farewell, O pleasant sea!
O joyous waves! O billows of the rock!
O flowery shore, and amber-coloured sands!
Farewell for ever! we return no more!”
Through long-green archways of the ancient woods,
Rising amid the grasses and the flowers,
And mounting to the tree-tops like a breeze
That has a fancy to become a storm,
Sounded a plaint, confused and intricate,
Of mystic voices blending into one.
Pan and his once rejoicing brotherhood
Of Faun and Satyrs, joyous now no more—
Pan and his buoyant nymphs of bower and stream,
Dryad and Nereid, sore discomforted,
Seemed to commingle in one long low chant,
Harmonious and melodious all their pain.
“Farewell!”they said, “a long and last farewell
To dells and valleys, once our happy homes!
Farewell, farewell, companionship with man,
And dance with mortal maidens on the sward
At vintage time, when Earth is blue with grapes!
Farewell, the thymy wilderness of hills
Where we have sported many a summer day
And quaffed the juice that Dionysus gave,
With flashing eyes and wine-empurpled lips!
Farewell, Dodona and the sacred oaks!
Farewell, the myrtle groves, and every tree
That we have loved and dwelt in from old time,
Free, tho' imprisoned! Farewell, lakes and streams
Translucent as the sky, where at hot noon
We've floated lily-like, or dived like birds,
And shook the sparkling moisture from our limbs,
And dived again, or floated, face to heaven,
Our long hair rippling on the rippling wave—
Farewell for ever! we return no more!”
Rising amid the grasses and the flowers,
And mounting to the tree-tops like a breeze
That has a fancy to become a storm,
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Of mystic voices blending into one.
Pan and his once rejoicing brotherhood
Of Faun and Satyrs, joyous now no more—
Pan and his buoyant nymphs of bower and stream,
Dryad and Nereid, sore discomforted,
Seemed to commingle in one long low chant,
Harmonious and melodious all their pain.
“Farewell!”they said, “a long and last farewell
To dells and valleys, once our happy homes!
Farewell, farewell, companionship with man,
And dance with mortal maidens on the sward
At vintage time, when Earth is blue with grapes!
Farewell, the thymy wilderness of hills
Where we have sported many a summer day
And quaffed the juice that Dionysus gave,
With flashing eyes and wine-empurpled lips!
Farewell, Dodona and the sacred oaks!
Farewell, the myrtle groves, and every tree
That we have loved and dwelt in from old time,
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Translucent as the sky, where at hot noon
We've floated lily-like, or dived like birds,
And shook the sparkling moisture from our limbs,
And dived again, or floated, face to heaven,
Our long hair rippling on the rippling wave—
Farewell for ever! we return no more!”
“Alas, poor Earth! alas, poor human kind!”
Said a sweet voice, clear echoing o'er the sky;
“What shall be done, if all the gods depart
And leave you to your wickedness and shame?
What shall be done when Love's bright flame is dimmed,
And Beauty tarnished, Joy made sickly pale,
Religion's self converted to a Trade,
And Lust and Anger, Hate and Selfishness,
Left without curb, to riot unrestrained,
Uncared for by the gods? Alas! alas!
This may not be!—Though gods and goddesses
And all the heroes of the Golden Age
Are fled for ever, Hope shall not depart:
Astræa shall remain! Rejoice, O earth!
For Justice shall be with you evermore;
The Wrong shall not be victor over Right
Without the penalty, twin born with crime;
The weak shall not be victims of the strong
Without God's remedy! Clear, darkening Heaven!
Smile out afresh, thou long-dejected Day!
Look up, ye nations, and be sad no more,
Astræa lingers in her ancient haunts,
Queen of the world, as in the olden time,
To aid the weak, to succour the oppressed,
And vindicate the justice of the gods!”
Said a sweet voice, clear echoing o'er the sky;
“What shall be done, if all the gods depart
And leave you to your wickedness and shame?
What shall be done when Love's bright flame is dimmed,
And Beauty tarnished, Joy made sickly pale,
Religion's self converted to a Trade,
And Lust and Anger, Hate and Selfishness,
Left without curb, to riot unrestrained,
Uncared for by the gods? Alas! alas!
This may not be!—Though gods and goddesses
And all the heroes of the Golden Age
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Astræa shall remain! Rejoice, O earth!
For Justice shall be with you evermore;
The Wrong shall not be victor over Right
Without the penalty, twin born with crime;
The weak shall not be victims of the strong
Without God's remedy! Clear, darkening Heaven!
Smile out afresh, thou long-dejected Day!
Look up, ye nations, and be sad no more,
Astræa lingers in her ancient haunts,
Queen of the world, as in the olden time,
To aid the weak, to succour the oppressed,
And vindicate the justice of the gods!”
The darkness cleared—the Sun looked forth from Heaven,
The gods no more lamented; and men's hearts
Were lightened of an agony and fear,
As mild Astræa spake, with tearful eyes,
And heavenly sympathy for erring men.
But never since that melancholy day
Has Nature smiled as brightly as before.
Beauty received a blemish and a taint,
And Love, th' immortal, though immortal still,
Sullied its purity with worldly thought:
The Golden Age had lapsed—the Iron came.
The gods no more lamented; and men's hearts
Were lightened of an agony and fear,
As mild Astræa spake, with tearful eyes,
And heavenly sympathy for erring men.
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Has Nature smiled as brightly as before.
Beauty received a blemish and a taint,
And Love, th' immortal, though immortal still,
Sullied its purity with worldly thought:
The Golden Age had lapsed—the Iron came.
| Studies from the Antique and Sketches from Nature | |