 | Poems (1867) |  |
336
THE CLEFT.
1861.
“Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.
[OMITTED]
“Oh, throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other half.”
“Oh, throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other half.”
The skies have voices soft
And loud, they mutter oft,
Dissolve and break in tears of joy and wonder;
More fierce the shock, the din
More harsh, when from within
Earth shakes, self-torn, and riven with secret thunder;
And loud, they mutter oft,
Dissolve and break in tears of joy and wonder;
More fierce the shock, the din
More harsh, when from within
Earth shakes, self-torn, and riven with secret thunder;
And now a ghastly cleft
Yawns wide from right to left,
And sucks and draws the Western World within it;
What voice, what arm uplift
This dire encroaching rift
May close with sovereign spell? and how begin it?
Yawns wide from right to left,
And sucks and draws the Western World within it;
What voice, what arm uplift
This dire encroaching rift
May close with sovereign spell? and how begin it?
337
In such a gulf of old
The Roman flung, not gold,
But Youth's heroic hope and Strength's endeavour;
Yet this one of the best
Hath ta'en, and for the rest
Still craves, unclosed, insatiate, widening ever.
The Roman flung, not gold,
But Youth's heroic hope and Strength's endeavour;
Yet this one of the best
Hath ta'en, and for the rest
Still craves, unclosed, insatiate, widening ever.
Say, will ye smoothe it over,
And bid the maid and lover
Dance here away their light-linked hours of leisure?
Yea, smoothe it over, sow it
With grass and flowers; below it
Are sounds that mingle strangely with the measure.
And bid the maid and lover
Dance here away their light-linked hours of leisure?
Yea, smoothe it over, sow it
With grass and flowers; below it
Are sounds that mingle strangely with the measure.
Or, leaning o'er its edges,
Now will ye barter pledges
With clasping hands, and talk of hearts combining,
Or plant the rootless tree
Within it—Liberty,
Hung round with garlands and with ribbons shining?
Now will ye barter pledges
With clasping hands, and talk of hearts combining,
Or plant the rootless tree
Within it—Liberty,
Hung round with garlands and with ribbons shining?
The jagged cleft from side
To side yawns yet more wide;
And Echo from within, your words recalling,
Hath sent from out the ground
The yet more hollow sound
Of loosened earth upon a coffin falling.
To side yawns yet more wide;
338
Hath sent from out the ground
The yet more hollow sound
Of loosened earth upon a coffin falling.
Then let it yawn to sever
The Bond and Free for ever:
Than Falsehood's hectic flush of vain relying,
On Freedom's cheek more fair
The glow of health, though there
Across it broad and deep a scar be lying!
The Bond and Free for ever:
Than Falsehood's hectic flush of vain relying,
On Freedom's cheek more fair
The glow of health, though there
Across it broad and deep a scar be lying!
Yea, let the sword pierce through
This tangle, and undo
The knot that doth but harder twist for friction:
Oh, seek not now to bind
What God hath loosed! no kind
Espousals these, but fettered, galled constriction.
This tangle, and undo
The knot that doth but harder twist for friction:
Oh, seek not now to bind
What God hath loosed! no kind
Espousals these, but fettered, galled constriction.
When life meets life with kiss
Of rapture strong, oh! this
Is union, this is strength; then leave the dying
With Death their troth to plight,
In charnel vaults by night,
'Mid dead men's bones and all uncleanness lying.
Of rapture strong, oh! this
Is union, this is strength; then leave the dying
With Death their troth to plight,
In charnel vaults by night,
'Mid dead men's bones and all uncleanness lying.
339
There leave them! let the wide,
Deep chasm still divide
'Twixt Night and Day, 'twixt Light and Darkness,—know
That greater than the whole
Is now the part; the soul
Is nobler than the body,—let them go!
Deep chasm still divide
'Twixt Night and Day, 'twixt Light and Darkness,—know
That greater than the whole
Is now the part; the soul
Is nobler than the body,—let them go!
| Poems (1867) | |