Master and Scholar etc. etc. By E. H. Plumptre: Second edition with notes |
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A PLASTER CAST FROM POMPEII. |
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 | Master and Scholar |  |
154
A PLASTER CAST FROM POMPEII.
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[In recent excavations at Pompeii, the dust in which the city was entombed was found to have taken the mould of the bodies of a group of men, women, and children, who appeared to have taken refuge in the court-yard of a villa. To remove the mould was impossible, but plaster of Paris was poured in, and the casts thus obtained (one of them, that of a girl of sixteen or seventeen) are now in the Museum there.—Revue des deux Mondes, xlvii. p. 231.]
Once I was young and fresh,
Fair with the fairest;
Now thou who standest there
Know'st not, nor carest:
Then the youths sang my praise,
Flushed with the dancing;
Now thine eye coldly falls,
Here and there glancing.
Fair with the fairest;
Now thou who standest there
Know'st not, nor carest:
Then the youths sang my praise,
Flushed with the dancing;
Now thine eye coldly falls,
Here and there glancing.
Lo! the hot air was thick,
Stifling and steaming;
Through the gray mist the sun
Rose, dimly gleaming.
Then a wild flash of fire,
Crash as of thunder;
All faces black with fear,
All sick with wonder.
Stifling and steaming;
Through the gray mist the sun
Rose, dimly gleaming.
Then a wild flash of fire,
Crash as of thunder;
All faces black with fear,
All sick with wonder.
155
Then the white dust fell fast,
Blinding our vision;
Men who had feared the Gods
Mocked in derision;
Mockers in fear fell down,
Death's spell upon them;
Gamesters threw up their dice;
Hades had won them.
Blinding our vision;
Men who had feared the Gods
Mocked in derision;
Mockers in fear fell down,
Death's spell upon them;
Gamesters threw up their dice;
Hades had won them.
Hushed was the minstrel's song,
Stiff grew the lithest;
All the stout hearts waxed faint,
Awe-struck the blithest;
I to my mother ran,
Love's shelter seeking;
Men sought their wives and babes,
Gasping, not speaking.
Stiff grew the lithest;
All the stout hearts waxed faint,
Awe-struck the blithest;
I to my mother ran,
Love's shelter seeking;
Men sought their wives and babes,
Gasping, not speaking.
Still the hot dust came down,
Choking our breath then,
And on our hearts there fell
Darkness of death then:
Friends, mothers, children fled,
In the dark meeting,
Whispering, ere life had fled,
Last words of greeting.
Choking our breath then,
And on our hearts there fell
Darkness of death then:
Friends, mothers, children fled,
In the dark meeting,
Whispering, ere life had fled,
Last words of greeting.
156
Flowers in my hair were twined,
Gracefully braided,
Now by the scorching blast,
Withered and faded;
Necklet of gold I wore,
Pearls that I cherished,—
These thou hast looked on here,
All else has perished.
Gracefully braided,
Now by the scorching blast,
Withered and faded;
Necklet of gold I wore,
Pearls that I cherished,—
These thou hast looked on here,
All else has perished.
I to the court-yard gate
Rushed in my madness,
After wild throbs of dread,
Fear conquering sadness;
There were they met, my friends,
Father and mother,
Faithful slave, lover true,
Sister and brother.
Rushed in my madness,
After wild throbs of dread,
Fear conquering sadness;
There were they met, my friends,
Father and mother,
Faithful slave, lover true,
Sister and brother.
So we faced death at last,
Each to each clinging;
Some, in their wild despair,
Frenziedly singing;
Most with clenched hands and lips,
Stiffened with sorrow:
We, who were met there then,
Saw no to-morrow.
Each to each clinging;
Some, in their wild despair,
Frenziedly singing;
Most with clenched hands and lips,
Stiffened with sorrow:
We, who were met there then,
Saw no to-morrow.
157
Bright was the life we lived:
This was its ending.
Had we provoked the Gods,
Blindly offending?
Did they look down in wrath,
Jealously grudging?
Did they chastise our guilt,
Righteously judging?
This was its ending.
Had we provoked the Gods,
Blindly offending?
Did they look down in wrath,
Jealously grudging?
Did they chastise our guilt,
Righteously judging?
Long had those fires of hell
Peacefully slumbered;
Men lived, and toiled, and loved,
Years none had numbered:
Now the dread doom came on,
Sent without warning;
Sunk in the night of death,
Where was our morning?
Peacefully slumbered;
Men lived, and toiled, and loved,
Years none had numbered:
Now the dread doom came on,
Sent without warning;
Sunk in the night of death,
Where was our morning?
Gladly our years had passed,
Buying and selling,
Dancing with pipe and harp,
Lovers' tales telling:
Now the fierce wrath of Gods
Dried up life's fountain;
Fire-streams none knew till then
Flowed from yon mountain.
Buying and selling,
Dancing with pipe and harp,
Lovers' tales telling:
Now the fierce wrath of Gods
Dried up life's fountain;
Fire-streams none knew till then
Flowed from yon mountain.
158
One there was, even then,
Tranquil, unaltered;
Calmly he looked on death,
Voice had not faltered;
Strange in his blood and speech,
Men looked with jeering;
Girls, in their pride of heart,
Shrank back, half fearing.
Tranquil, unaltered;
Calmly he looked on death,
Voice had not faltered;
Strange in his blood and speech,
Men looked with jeering;
Girls, in their pride of heart,
Shrank back, half fearing.
Now as we sank in death
Came his voice clearer,
First sounding far away,
Then near, and nearer;
Voice, as of one who prays,
Eagerly pleading,
For friends, and foes, and all,
Still interceding.
Came his voice clearer,
First sounding far away,
Then near, and nearer;
Voice, as of one who prays,
Eagerly pleading,
For friends, and foes, and all,
Still interceding.
“So once of old the fire
Burst on Lot's city;
So Thou dost smite us now,
Lord of all pity.
Through all the crowds I see,
Aged or youthful,
Not ten, nor five are found,
Righteous and truthful.
Burst on Lot's city;
So Thou dost smite us now,
Lord of all pity.
Through all the crowds I see,
Aged or youthful,
Not ten, nor five are found,
Righteous and truthful.
159
“Yet, Lord, have mercy now,
Spare those who perish;
Take them, and teach them, Lord,
Chasten and cherish:
Babes in the dawn of life,
Youths in its morning,
Thou hast redeemed them, Lord,
Not one soul scorning.”
Spare those who perish;
Take them, and teach them, Lord,
Chasten and cherish:
Babes in the dawn of life,
Youths in its morning,
Thou hast redeemed them, Lord,
Not one soul scorning.”
Such were the words we heard,
Strengthening and cheering;
So we sank down to sleep,
Hoping, yet fearing:
Just for one breath we knew
What death's strange calm meant,
Then we were safe entombed,
Dust our embalmment.
Strengthening and cheering;
So we sank down to sleep,
Hoping, yet fearing:
Just for one breath we knew
What death's strange calm meant,
Then we were safe entombed,
Dust our embalmment.
Now we lie side by side,
None knows our story,
What has come after death,
Darkness or glory;
None reads the lesson right,
Awe-struck with wonder,
Though these clay lips might speak
Louder than thunder.
None knows our story,
What has come after death,
Darkness or glory;
None reads the lesson right,
Awe-struck with wonder,
Though these clay lips might speak
Louder than thunder.
160
Go thou, who standest there,
Tranquilly dreaming,
Learn the stern truths that lie
Under all seeming.
Feeding the pride of life,
Thou thyself starvest;
Thine is the seed-time now;
Whose is the harvest?
Tranquilly dreaming,
Learn the stern truths that lie
Under all seeming.
Feeding the pride of life,
Thou thyself starvest;
Thine is the seed-time now;
Whose is the harvest?
July 1865.
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