The hurricane a theosophical and western eclogue. To which is subjoined, a solitary effusion in a summer's evening. By William Gilbert |
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| I. | CANTO I. |
| II. |
 | The hurricane |  |
CANTO I.
Near where with Tropic heats bright Cancer glows,
And sun beams glitter with perennial force,
Girt with the azure wave an Island lies,
Called by the Spaniards ANTIENT Its breadth is
Measured by the eye; which, still unsatisfied,
Strikes far beyond the reach of land, Northward
When turned. Its utmost length doubles it's breadth.
And sun beams glitter with perennial force,
Girt with the azure wave an Island lies,
Called by the Spaniards ANTIENT Its breadth is
Measured by the eye; which, still unsatisfied,
Strikes far beyond the reach of land, Northward
When turned. Its utmost length doubles it's breadth.
Islands, faint seen among the adjacent seas,
Bearing their various headlands in the wave,
A social and romantic scene disclose:
They give the wing for amplest thought to range
On all the mighty wonders of the world!
Scenes undiscovered, uncreate to man,
E'er distant Europe's energetic arm
Ploughed up the vasty ocean to their base;
And still, with art miraculous, detects
Their sunny ports through many a pathless league.
Bearing their various headlands in the wave,
A social and romantic scene disclose:
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On all the mighty wonders of the world!
Scenes undiscovered, uncreate to man,
E'er distant Europe's energetic arm
Ploughed up the vasty ocean to their base;
And still, with art miraculous, detects
Their sunny ports through many a pathless league.
Ah! here, Columbus, with the din of war,
Broke the mild concords of the Mermaid's shell;
Who, mild, at evening, in the glassy wave,
Joined with the Genii of the neighbour shores,
To sing of Love as spotless as the sky,
And as their ocean clear; bounteous as airs
Wafting full fragrance from the thornless grove
Complicate of sweets, diffusing transport;
And the realm of Love, and Health extatic,
Spread, unjealous, round. Then the glowing sons
Of this mature and Occidental Sun,
(Not less than Memnon, whom Aurora bore
To Eastern mornings; and whose grateful harp
Spontaneous echoed to the rising day)
To bolder measures led the exalting strain;
And, fired with all the radiance of their sire,
Poured elemental music from their strings—
Till Hell's dread discords from dark Europe broke:
Then the Mermaid to her deeps shot rapid:
Trembling she lay—but safe; and long concealed
From haunts of war. Soon many and many
A son of earth plunged after her, and she gave
A coral sepulchre and tears of heart;
While armied spirits formed, in Fire and Earth
And Air and Seas a phalanx of avengers:
Who far from Europe and it's bodied forms,
Survived Immortal, Vengeful and Creative.
Expelled, these Sons of Virgin Light retired
Or to refulgent air or terrene depths.
In subterranean vaults where ocean roars
Terror and dread to European hearts,
They hold consult with Genii of the deep,
With placid Mermaids, (who preserve the keys
Of coral tombs; till from their safeguard called,
To repossess once more their hallowed seats,
Forgotten bodies startle the dull world
And take their own from myriads aghast)
With all the good and great of all the world—
The many-murdered Innocence of Ind
Or East or West—and their Avengers great—
However named—in sweet alliance leagued,
Whose fount is God, whose end and stream is bliss.
Broke the mild concords of the Mermaid's shell;
Who, mild, at evening, in the glassy wave,
Joined with the Genii of the neighbour shores,
To sing of Love as spotless as the sky,
And as their ocean clear; bounteous as airs
Wafting full fragrance from the thornless grove
Complicate of sweets, diffusing transport;
And the realm of Love, and Health extatic,
Spread, unjealous, round. Then the glowing sons
Of this mature and Occidental Sun,
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To Eastern mornings; and whose grateful harp
Spontaneous echoed to the rising day)
To bolder measures led the exalting strain;
And, fired with all the radiance of their sire,
Poured elemental music from their strings—
Till Hell's dread discords from dark Europe broke:
Then the Mermaid to her deeps shot rapid:
Trembling she lay—but safe; and long concealed
From haunts of war. Soon many and many
A son of earth plunged after her, and she gave
A coral sepulchre and tears of heart;
While armied spirits formed, in Fire and Earth
And Air and Seas a phalanx of avengers:
Who far from Europe and it's bodied forms,
Survived Immortal, Vengeful and Creative.
Expelled, these Sons of Virgin Light retired
Or to refulgent air or terrene depths.
In subterranean vaults where ocean roars
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They hold consult with Genii of the deep,
With placid Mermaids, (who preserve the keys
Of coral tombs; till from their safeguard called,
To repossess once more their hallowed seats,
Forgotten bodies startle the dull world
And take their own from myriads aghast)
With all the good and great of all the world—
The many-murdered Innocence of Ind
Or East or West—and their Avengers great—
However named—in sweet alliance leagued,
Whose fount is God, whose end and stream is bliss.
These peaceful murmurs and these pure consults
Of nearing Bliss, speak thunder to the North.
They give prognostic to the fear-worn ears
Of list'ning usurpers of their fertile clime,
In sounds unscanned, of pondered Hurricanes;
When they remount on air triumphant, joined
With dread auxiliars riding on the wave,
And shew their greatness—over pale Europe's
Miniatures of winds! Reigning superior
To their victors mean, as in fost'ring Peace
So in black War's rude crash; as in melody,
Just in great discords, throughout all the maze
Of involute, transversive harmony,
Till they repoise the scale in tonal Peace;
Victors on Europe, witherers of her might!
For their's are Nature's powers; Elemental strength
Springs in their nerves, to artificial or
Cold Europe's man unknown; and at the Fount
Divine they drink pursuant of the stream:
They hence are keenly sentient of all truth:
Familiar, hence, is bold Emprize; easy,
Hence, Atchievement, that to Europe's upward
Navigation is impractical and mad.
Of nearing Bliss, speak thunder to the North.
They give prognostic to the fear-worn ears
Of list'ning usurpers of their fertile clime,
In sounds unscanned, of pondered Hurricanes;
When they remount on air triumphant, joined
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And shew their greatness—over pale Europe's
Miniatures of winds! Reigning superior
To their victors mean, as in fost'ring Peace
So in black War's rude crash; as in melody,
Just in great discords, throughout all the maze
Of involute, transversive harmony,
Till they repoise the scale in tonal Peace;
Victors on Europe, witherers of her might!
For their's are Nature's powers; Elemental strength
Springs in their nerves, to artificial or
Cold Europe's man unknown; and at the Fount
Divine they drink pursuant of the stream:
They hence are keenly sentient of all truth:
Familiar, hence, is bold Emprize; easy,
Hence, Atchievement, that to Europe's upward
Navigation is impractical and mad.
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Deep in these Caverns, or in Air sublime
A long abode they held; but never slept:
Secure—that Europe dreamed not, or dreaming,
Dared not search for Life in principles of Life,
The ethereal sense and fire's elastic beam.
They rallied, time by time, Their scattered bands,
With antient concords on their still-tuned harps;
Which, momently, the favoured ear might catch,
At silent dawning in the Zenith Air;
And feel the high seraphic rapture trill,
As the sweet sounds evolved a maze of song—
A song replete with all that Egypt knew,
Or close Eleusis taught her pious youth.
A long abode they held; but never slept:
Secure—that Europe dreamed not, or dreaming,
Dared not search for Life in principles of Life,
The ethereal sense and fire's elastic beam.
They rallied, time by time, Their scattered bands,
With antient concords on their still-tuned harps;
Which, momently, the favoured ear might catch,
At silent dawning in the Zenith Air;
And feel the high seraphic rapture trill,
As the sweet sounds evolved a maze of song—
A song replete with all that Egypt knew,
Or close Eleusis taught her pious youth.
Here too I sat with them enwrapt, though open;
Till now the concert hastens to a close,
And all our War is out! Bold and more quick
The countervailing Discords now We sound
And ply the terrible Antistrophe,
With fearful Justice and closed Harmony
Full on Europe, who ghastly sinks to Hell!
Till now the concert hastens to a close,
And all our War is out! Bold and more quick
The countervailing Discords now We sound
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With fearful Justice and closed Harmony
Full on Europe, who ghastly sinks to Hell!
The Genius of the West is High, and rides
Swiftly on the bold and regulated
Pinion of the Atlantic Wind. His race is won.
His burning wheels run on the rolling floods!
He has not other climes to visit. New
To the world in Afric's Morning; and in
Asia's Noon but just reflecting rays
Feeble and broken on European snows—
He challenged no return who made no gift.
But now though Europe his descending beams
Have all diffused their lustre; and at length,
Fresh and resplendent in the Western sky,
He sums up all his Justice and his Strength;
Kindles his orient and meridian blaze
Clear as in Asia, as in Afric bold;
Displays as lucid purple on his throne,
And summons all the Honors of the World.
No lingering twilight in the proud-robed WEST
Shews indecision in the Paths of Day!
But each must grasp the single hour of Light,
Or lose for ever, and in darkness die.
Swiftly on the bold and regulated
Pinion of the Atlantic Wind. His race is won.
His burning wheels run on the rolling floods!
He has not other climes to visit. New
To the world in Afric's Morning; and in
Asia's Noon but just reflecting rays
Feeble and broken on European snows—
He challenged no return who made no gift.
But now though Europe his descending beams
Have all diffused their lustre; and at length,
Fresh and resplendent in the Western sky,
He sums up all his Justice and his Strength;
Kindles his orient and meridian blaze
Clear as in Asia, as in Afric bold;
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And summons all the Honors of the World.
No lingering twilight in the proud-robed WEST
Shews indecision in the Paths of Day!
But each must grasp the single hour of Light,
Or lose for ever, and in darkness die.
It is not till receding to the point,
Whence, from the lofty Zenith's blazy height,
Again he darts, with generous force intense,
His arrows vertical; as with quickened march,
He hastens to relume the Southern World,—
That his indignant and protected Sons
Sweep on the Isles commissioned Hurricanes.
Whence, from the lofty Zenith's blazy height,
Again he darts, with generous force intense,
His arrows vertical; as with quickened march,
He hastens to relume the Southern World,—
That his indignant and protected Sons
Sweep on the Isles commissioned Hurricanes.
Now e'er description bid the tempest pour,
Retire We to the bower of Love and feel
The blaze of Beauty. 'Tis the hour of Noon:
Tokens have caused an awful expectation:
The Calm; diamond-bright, pellucid, ether;
The cavern murmuring to the troubled wave—
Give note unerring of the big Event.
Retire We to the bower of Love and feel
The blaze of Beauty. 'Tis the hour of Noon:
Tokens have caused an awful expectation:
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The cavern murmuring to the troubled wave—
Give note unerring of the big Event.
And who will join me in this safe Recess?
Come Love's and Nature's offspring pure, whoe'er
Or whence thou art! For thou art mine, I know:
Come Fancy's sweetest Child! For I am thine
Through the contrasted changes of my Life!
Swift let me lead thee tender, and fearful,
Or of the wild blast, or the madman's touch,
Assiduous for that calm and full Recess,
To Indian Groves of aromatic breath,
To spicy Thickets and to ample flowers
Redolent of every various sweet that glows
Beneath the beams of Heaven's Eternal Sun!
Thence, in the house, careless of every blast,
Fixt on the Rock whose Quarry gave its Walls,
And whose Foundations are the central Earth,
We'll smile contempt on every fear around.
Come Love's and Nature's offspring pure, whoe'er
Or whence thou art! For thou art mine, I know:
Come Fancy's sweetest Child! For I am thine
Through the contrasted changes of my Life!
Swift let me lead thee tender, and fearful,
Or of the wild blast, or the madman's touch,
Assiduous for that calm and full Recess,
To Indian Groves of aromatic breath,
To spicy Thickets and to ample flowers
Redolent of every various sweet that glows
Beneath the beams of Heaven's Eternal Sun!
Thence, in the house, careless of every blast,
Fixt on the Rock whose Quarry gave its Walls,
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We'll smile contempt on every fear around.
Before the Tempest darken on the Isle,
We'll view the little Archipelago,
That raise their pleasant banks and slope their beach
Around their parent Isle.
We'll view the little Archipelago,
That raise their pleasant banks and slope their beach
Around their parent Isle.
Green Island, first,
Excels in verdure, and to listlessness
And summer pleasure spreads the cocoa shade.
Pelican Island on the North-East lies;
Whose shelving shore, or here presents the cool,
Sequestered spot for bathing; or covered o'er
With beauteous shells of every gaudy tinge,
Invites the mind, that springs to Nature's charms,
Or loves to class what she diffusely throws.
These, with Long Island, and that Isle whose name
The Guana, found in multitudes, imparts;
Successive open to the glad eager eye
Of mariner, now lightly concluding
A long Voyage with Bliss, and down the Northern coast,
Rocky, but pleasant, as his business calls,
With steady breeze and unreefed topsails, sailing.
But far more extacied with all the scene
Is that gay Girl, or this impetuous Youth,
Who, long estranged from early blisses sweet
And all the transports of their infant years,
In search of Learning radiant, or the dance,
Greet joyous now, the pleasant Isle, that holds
Their Friends, their Parents, and (if virtue warm
The feeling bosoms of their race and them)
The orphaned train, whose daily sweat has won
The Pride and Pleasure which exalts them now;
But whom Diviner Justice soon will teach,
That the same hand which sowed, shall reap the field:
And that, which reaps, uninjured, shall enjoy.
Excels in verdure, and to listlessness
And summer pleasure spreads the cocoa shade.
Pelican Island on the North-East lies;
Whose shelving shore, or here presents the cool,
Sequestered spot for bathing; or covered o'er
With beauteous shells of every gaudy tinge,
Invites the mind, that springs to Nature's charms,
Or loves to class what she diffusely throws.
These, with Long Island, and that Isle whose name
The Guana, found in multitudes, imparts;
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Of mariner, now lightly concluding
A long Voyage with Bliss, and down the Northern coast,
Rocky, but pleasant, as his business calls,
With steady breeze and unreefed topsails, sailing.
But far more extacied with all the scene
Is that gay Girl, or this impetuous Youth,
Who, long estranged from early blisses sweet
And all the transports of their infant years,
In search of Learning radiant, or the dance,
Greet joyous now, the pleasant Isle, that holds
Their Friends, their Parents, and (if virtue warm
The feeling bosoms of their race and them)
The orphaned train, whose daily sweat has won
The Pride and Pleasure which exalts them now;
But whom Diviner Justice soon will teach,
That the same hand which sowed, shall reap the field:
And that, which reaps, uninjured, shall enjoy.
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Around Us here, while all was tempered Peace,
Pleasing although illusive and unjust;
The balmy trade-wind breathed refreshing airs,
And blew salubrious to the toil-worn slave.
Pleasing although illusive and unjust;
The balmy trade-wind breathed refreshing airs,
And blew salubrious to the toil-worn slave.
The Eastern shore receives the welcome gale;
And leads to caverns, or the brow of rocks,
To gravel banks with glittering shell-fish strewed,
To deep-green mangrove, or the shadowing branch
Of lofty cedar droping blossoms white,
That tremble as they fall and meet the wave
Progressive to their root. Here, oft, at even,
When lengthening shadows to the calmy wave
Shot dubious twilight and alluring gloom,
I sat contemplative; and viewed the breeze
Chequer the water with far-streaming light,
That glistened as with gems: I sat and thought
Ambition was a folly; glory, madness;
And all the hopes attending various man
Were robbers of his rest: I thought, that Love
Was all the sum indulgent Heaven e'er made
To constitute his bliss. I thought so and was blest.
And leads to caverns, or the brow of rocks,
To gravel banks with glittering shell-fish strewed,
To deep-green mangrove, or the shadowing branch
Of lofty cedar droping blossoms white,
That tremble as they fall and meet the wave
Progressive to their root. Here, oft, at even,
When lengthening shadows to the calmy wave
Shot dubious twilight and alluring gloom,
I sat contemplative; and viewed the breeze
Chequer the water with far-streaming light,
That glistened as with gems: I sat and thought
Ambition was a folly; glory, madness;
And all the hopes attending various man
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Was all the sum indulgent Heaven e'er made
To constitute his bliss. I thought so and was blest.
For four long days a calm through nature reigned;
A calm as dead as ever struck the deep;
As ever marked the silent air with awe,
Or stilled the leaf high trembling, on the bough.
The fifth at eve to my accustomed haunt,
Along the shadow of a Cocoa Grove,
Down to the beach I strolled. The setting sun
Was dyed with crimson; and the full-orbed moon,
That palely rose above the dusky arch,
Was deeply burred. Settled, encreasing, black,
With jagged clouds, voluminous and deep,
Scudded along the Northern verge of ocean,
And a long labouring swell hove the large
Billow lifeless on the shore, while adverse clouds
In dark battalia swiftly met in air.
A calm as dead as ever struck the deep;
As ever marked the silent air with awe,
Or stilled the leaf high trembling, on the bough.
The fifth at eve to my accustomed haunt,
Along the shadow of a Cocoa Grove,
Down to the beach I strolled. The setting sun
Was dyed with crimson; and the full-orbed moon,
That palely rose above the dusky arch,
Was deeply burred. Settled, encreasing, black,
With jagged clouds, voluminous and deep,
Scudded along the Northern verge of ocean,
And a long labouring swell hove the large
Billow lifeless on the shore, while adverse clouds
In dark battalia swiftly met in air.
22
Just where the horizon bends to meet the wave,
Within the farthest reach of human ken,
A Sail appeared. The mild ray far beaming
From the Western Sun glanced on her canvas,
And beheld it spread before the rising breeze.
The rising breeze far from the Northward moved,
Ruffling along, and blackened as it came.
The affrighted plover from its blast retired;
The lizard nestled in the watchman's hut,
And heavy, awful, gloom poured deepening on.
Soon reigning darkness o'er Creation drew
The deep-black curtain of involving night:
The tempest thickened; and the dark wind howled
Encreasing horrors and sublimer blasts
Heavy the deep-hung atmosphere along.
Retired as soon as straws around me felt
The wind, I, hence, enjoyed in silent peace
The rending gale. But, ever and anon,
Some crash of trees or noise of swift destruction
Met my ear. Soon the expected signals of
Distress roll through the heavy storm; the wind
Almost suppressed the deep-mouthed sound it bore.
Reiterate at rapid intervals,
The guns were heard, and oftimes joined the thunder.
The firing ceased. The aggravated storm rode
Wide and unrivalled through the midnight air.
All else was silence.
Within the farthest reach of human ken,
A Sail appeared. The mild ray far beaming
From the Western Sun glanced on her canvas,
And beheld it spread before the rising breeze.
The rising breeze far from the Northward moved,
Ruffling along, and blackened as it came.
The affrighted plover from its blast retired;
The lizard nestled in the watchman's hut,
And heavy, awful, gloom poured deepening on.
Soon reigning darkness o'er Creation drew
The deep-black curtain of involving night:
The tempest thickened; and the dark wind howled
Encreasing horrors and sublimer blasts
Heavy the deep-hung atmosphere along.
Retired as soon as straws around me felt
The wind, I, hence, enjoyed in silent peace
The rending gale. But, ever and anon,
Some crash of trees or noise of swift destruction
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Distress roll through the heavy storm; the wind
Almost suppressed the deep-mouthed sound it bore.
Reiterate at rapid intervals,
The guns were heard, and oftimes joined the thunder.
The firing ceased. The aggravated storm rode
Wide and unrivalled through the midnight air.
All else was silence.
| The hurricane | |