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BAR C O D E L L L LL L
B O OK I S L O C AT ED
Cox/Eta
C O RNELLUN IVERS ITYLIB RARY
FROM
MACMI LLAN AND C O LIMIT E D
LO ND ON B OMBAY C ALCUTT A MAD RAS
MELB O URNE
THE MACM ILLAN C O MPANYNE!! YO RK o B O ST O N C HIC AGO
D ALLAS S AN FRANC ISC O
THE MACMILLAN C0. O F C ANAD A LT D .
C O NT ENT S
AWAKEN ING
BY THE MARG IN OF GREAT
THE UNKNOWN Goo
THE HERMIT
O vERsOUL
T HE GREAT BREATH
D USK
N IGHT
EcHOEs
STAR TEACH ER S
WI NTER .
ANSWER
TH E GIFT
THE D IV IN E s mN
FROLI C
D ES I RE
THE PLAcE OF REST
THE D AWN O F D ARKN ESS0
1X
REST
P ITY
T HE C ITY
D UST
THE VIRGIN MOT HER
D ANA
THE EARTH BREATH
ALTER Eco
NATURAL MAGIC
C HILD HOOD
SYMBOLISM
MYST ERY
A NEW WORLD
SACRI FICE
BROTHERHOOD
O N A H ILL-TOP
THE VOICE OF THE WAT ERS
KRISHNA
FREEDOM
THE EARTH
T o O NE C ONSECRATED
CONTENTS
A WOMAN ’S VO ICE
T HE SPIRIT O F THE
H EROI C LOVE
D IV I N E VI SITATION
PARTING
N IGHT
D AWN SONG
THE HOUR OF THE
THE HEROES
SELF-D I SC IPLINE
THE MAN T o THE ANGEL
A VI S ION OF BEAUTY
THE VESTURE OF THE
THE FREE
C OM FO RT
WARNING
D REAM LOVE
THE BURN ING-GLASS
BABYLO N
T H E P AP E R n sr M rm n vv
CONTENTS
CARROWMORE
THE D REAM OF THE C HILDREN
INSPI RATION
A MEMORY
A SUMMER NIGHT
THE WEAVER OF SOULS
THE SI LENCE O E LOVE
CREATION
THE WI ND S OF ANGUS
APHRO D ITE
THE M EMORY OF EARTH
T HE VEILs OF MAYA
IN THE WOM B
SUNG ON A BY-WAY
JANUs
T HE GREY ERos
D UALITY
TRUTH
FANTASY
THE MOUNTAINEER
T HE GO LD EN AGE
T HE MASTER S INGER
CO NTENTS
L IGHT AND D ARK
RECALL
A LEADER
THE LAST HERO
T HE PAIN OF EARTH
UNCONSC IOUS
LOVE
IND IAN SONG
THE NUT S OF KNOWLEDGE
CH ILDREN OF L I R
P RAYER
BEN EDICTION
T HE M I D-WORLD
R EMEM B RANCE
THE VI SION O F LOVE
THE C HRIST-SWORD
BLINDNEss
WHOM WE WORSHIP
REFLECT IO NS
THE MORNING STAR
ILLUSION
CONTENTS
AN IRISH FACE
O N THE WATE RS
GOD S, OF WAR
BATTLE ARD OUR
CONTINUITY
ARES
FO REBODING
CHIVALRY
SHADOWS AND L IGHTS
APOC ALYPTIC
TRAGEDY
STATESMEN
T o THE NEW GODS
ICICLES
INV I SIB LE KINGS
IN C ONNEMARA
TWI L IGHT B Y THE C AB I N
KINSH IP
THE IRON AGE
Am ! A N D Y O U T H
CONTENTS
ENDURANCE
WHEN
TRAN SFORMAT IONS
TRAGEDY
IN MEMO RrAM
MOMENTARY
R'
ECONcILIAT ION
EPILOGUE
AWAKENING
T HE lights shone down the StreetIn the long blue close ofdayA boy’s heart beat sweet, sweet,As it flowered in its dreamy clay .
Beyond the dazzling throngAnd above the towers ofmenThe stars made him long, long,T o return t o their light again.
They lit the Wondrousl years
And his heart within was gay ;But a life oftears, tears,He had won for himself that day.
BY THE MARGIN OF THE GREATDEEP
WHEN the breath of twilight blows t o flamethe misty skies,
All its vaporous sapphire, Violet glow andsilver gleam
With their magic flood me through the gateway of the eyesI am one with the twilight ’s dream.
When the trees and skies and fields are one
in dusky mood,Every heart of man is rapt within the
mot her ’s breastFull of peace and sleep and dreams in the
vasty quietude ,I am one with their hearts at rest .
From our immemorial joys of hearth andhome and love
Strayed away along the margin of the un
known tide,
All its reach of soundless calm can thrill mefar aboveWord or touch from the lips beside.
3
4 THE GREAT DEEP
Aye, and deep and deep and deeper let medrink and draw
From the olden fountain more than light orpeace or dream
,
Such primeval being as o’
erfills the heart withawe,Growing one with its Silent stream.
THE UNKNOWN GOD
FAR up the dim twilight flutteredMoth-wings of vapour and flame
The lights danced over the mountains,
Star after star they came.
The lights grew thicker unheeded,
For silent and st ill were weOur hearts were drunk with beauty
eyes could never
THE HERM IT
When t he dusky shadow flits,
By the chimney nook I seeWhere the old enchanter sits,Smiles and waves and beckons
OVERSOUL
I am B eauty it selfamong beaut iful t hings.
B hagaoad-Gita.
T HE East was crowned with snow-cold bloomAnd hung with veils of pearly fleeceThey died away into the gloom ,
Vistas of peace— and deeper peace.
And earth and air and wave and fireIn awe and breathless Silence stoodFor One who passed into their choirLinked them in mystic brotherhood.
Twilight ofamethyst, amidThy few strange stars that lit the heights
,
Where was the secret spirit hid ?Where was Thy place, 0 Light ofLights 9
The flame ofBeauty far in spaceWhere rose the fire in Thee in MeWhich bowed the elemental raceTo adoration silently ?
THE GREAT BREATH
IT S edges foamed with amethyst and rose,Withers once more the old blue flower of
dayThere where the ether like a diamond glows
Its petals fade away.
A shadowy tumult stirs the dusky airSparkle the delicate dews, the distant snowsThe great deep thrills, for through it every
whereThe breath ofBeauty blows.
I saw how all the trembling ages past,Moulded t o her by deep and deeper breath,Neared t o the hour when Beauty breathes
her lastAnd knows herself in death .
DUSK
DUSK wraps the village in its dim caressEach chimney’s vapour, like a thin grey rod,Mounting aloft through miles ofquietness,Pillars the skies of God.
Far up they break or seem to break theirline,
Mingling their nebulous crests that bow andnod
Under the light ofthose fierce stars that shineOut of the calm of God.
Only in clouds and dreams I felt those soulsIn the abyss, each fire hid in its clodFrom which in clouds and dreams the Spirit
rollsInto t he vast of God.
10
NIGHT
HEART -H ID DEN from the outer things Irose
The spirit woke anew in nightly birthUnto the vastness where forever glows
The star-soul ofthe earth.
There all alone in prim al ecstasy,
Within her depths where revels never tire,
The olden Beauty shines each thought ofme
Is veined through with it s fire.
And all my thoughts are throngs of livingsouls
They breathe in me, heart unto heart alliedTheir joy undimmed, though when the morn
ing tollsThe planets may divide.
I I
DAWN
ST ILL as the holy ofholies breathes the vast,Within its crystal depths the stars grow dimFire on the altar ofthe hills at lastBurns on the Shadowy rim.
Moment that holds all moments white uponThe verge it trembles then like mists of
flowersBreak from the fairy fountain ofthe dawn
The hues of many hours .
Thrown downwardfrom that high companionship
O fdreaming inmost heart with inmost heart,
Into the common daily ways I slipMy fire from theirs apart.
DAY
IN day from some titanic past it seemsAs if a thread divine ofmemory runsBorn ere the Might y One began his dreams
,
Or yet were stars and suns.
But here an iron will has fixed the barsForgetfulness falls on earth ’s myriad racesNo image of the proud and morning stars
Looks at us from their faces.
Yet yearning still t o reach to those dimheights
,
Each dream remembered is a burning-glass,
Where through to darkness from the Lightof LightsIts rays in Splendour pass.
STAR TEACHERS
EVEN as a bird sprays many—coloured fires,
The plumes ofparadise , the dying lightRays t hrough the fevered air in misty spiresThat vanish in the height.
These myriad eyes that look on me are mineWandering beneath them I have found againThe ancient ample moment, the divine,The God-root within men .
For this , for this the lights innumerableA S symbols shine that we the true light winFor every star and every deep they
stars and deeps wit hin .
r5
WINTER
A D IAMO ND glow of winter o ’
er the worldAmid the chilly halo nigh t he westFlickers a phantom violet bloom unfurled
D im on the twilight’s breast .
Only phantasmal blooms but for an hour,A transient beauty then the white stars
ShineChilling the heart I long for thee to flower,O bud oflight divine.
Bu t never visible to sense or thoughtThe flower of Beauty blooms afar withdrawnIf in our being then we know it not
,
Or, knowing, it is gone.
ANSWER
T HE warmth of life is quenched with bitterfrost
Upon the lonely road a child limps bySkirting the frozen pools our way is lost
Our heart s sink u tterly.
But from the snow-patched moorland chilland drear,
Lifting our eyes beyond the spired height,
With white—fire lips apart the dawn breathesclearIts soundless hymn oflight.
Out of the vast the voice ofone repliesWhose words are clouds and stars and night
and day,When for the ligh t the anguished spirit criesDeep in its house ofclay.
THE GIFT
I T HO UGHT,beloved, t o have brought t o you
A gift of quietness and ease and peace,Cooling your brow as with the mystic dewDropping from twilight trees.
Homeward I go no t yet the darknessgrows
Not mine the voice to still with peace divineFrom the first fount the stream of quiet flowsThrough other hearts than mine .
Yet ofmy night I give to you the stars,And of my sorrow here the sweetest gains,
out of hell,beyond it s iron bars
,
My Scorn ofall its pains.
I8
THE DIVINE VISION
TH IS mood hath known all beauty,for it sees
O’
erwh elmed majestiesIn these pale forms, and kingly crowns ofgold
On brows no longer bold,
And through the shadowy terrors of theirhell
The love for which they fell,
And how desire which cast them in the deepCalled God too from His sleep.
Oh,Pity
,only seer
,who looking through
A heart melted like dew,
Seest the long perished in the present thus,For ever dwell in us .
Whatever time thy golden eyelids opeThey travel t o a hopeNot only backward from these low degreesT o starry dynasties,But
,looking far where now the silence owns
And rules from empty thrones,Thou seest the enchanted hills ofheaven burnFor joy at our return.
19
20 THE DIVINE VISION
Thy tender kiss hath memory we are kingsFor all our wanderings.Thy shining eyes already see the aft erIn hidden light and laughter.
FROLIC
T HE children were shouting togetherAnd racing along t he sands
,
A glimmer of dancing shadows,
A dovelike flutter of hands.
The stars were shouting in heaven,
The sun was chasing the moonThe game was the same as the children’s
,
They danced t o the self-same tune .
The whole of the world was merry,One joy from t he vale to the height
,
Wh ere the blue woods of twilight encircledThe lovely lawns of the light .
2!
THE PLACE OF REST
T h e soul is it s own wit ness and it s own refuge.
UNT o the deep the deep heart goes,
It lays its sadness nigh th e breastOnly the Mighty Mother knowsThe wounds that quiver unconfessed.
It seeks a deeper Silence stillI t folds itself around wit h peace
,
Where thoughts alike of good or illIn qu ietness unfostered cease.
It feels in the unwounding vastFor comfort for it s hopes and fearsThe Mighty Mother bows at lastShe listens t o her children’s tears .
Where the last anguish deepens— thereThe fire of beauty smit es through painA lory moves amid despair,The Mother takes her child again .
23
THE DAWN OF DARKNESS
COME earth’s little children pit-pat from their
burrows on the hillHangs within the gloom its weary head theshining daffodil.
In the valley underneath us through thefragrance flit along
Over fields and over hedgerows little quivering drops ofsong .
All adown the pale blue mantle of themount ains far away
Stream the t resses of the twilight flying in thewake of day.
Night comes ; soon alone shall fancy followsadly in her flight
Where the fiery dust of evening, shaken fromthe feet oflight,
Thrusts its monstrous barriers between thepure
,t he good, the true,
That our weeping eyes may strain for, butshall never after view.
Only yester eve I watched with heart at restthe nebula
24
THE DAWN OF DARKNESS 2 5
Looming far within the shadowy shining ofthe Milky Way
Finding in t he stillness joy and hope for all
the sons of menNow what silent anguish fills a night more
beautiful than thenFor earth’s age of pain has come
,and all her
sister planets weep,
Thinking of her fires of morning passinginto dream less sleep .
In this cycle of great sorrow for the moment sthat we last
We too shall be linked by weeping to thegreatness of her past
But the coming race shall know not,and the
fount of t ears shall dry,And the arid heart of m an be arid as the
desert sky.
So within my mind the darkness dawned,and
round me everywhereHope departed wit h the twilight, leavingonly dumb despair.
WAIT ING
WHEN the dawn comes forth I wonderWill our sad
,sad hearts awaken,
And the grief we laboured underFrom the new-in—j oy be Shaken
If t he night be long in going,All our sou ls will fix in sadnessAnd the light of morning glowingWaken in our eyes no gladness .
A ll unschooled in mirth we will notRouse forgotten joys
-from sleepingA nd the dawn our pain shall still notWe gaze on it with weeping.
26
THE SYMBOL SEDUCES
THERE in her old-world garden smilesA symbol of the world’s desire
,
Striving with quaint and lovely wilesT o bind to eart h the sou l of fire.
And while I sit and listen there,T h e robe of Beauty falls awayFrom universal things to whereIt s image dazzles for a day.
Away the great l ife calls I leaveBeauty, Beauty
’s rarest flowerFor Truth, the lips that ne
’er deceiveFor Love
,I leave Love’s haunted bower.
REST
O N me to rest, my bird, my birdThe swaying branches of my heartAre blown by every wind towardThe home wheret o their wings depart.
Build not your nest, my bird, on meI know no peace but ever swayO lovely bird, be free, be free,On the wild music ofthe day .
But sometimes when you r Wings would rest,
And winds are laid on quiet evesCome, I will bear you breast to breast,And lap you close with loving leaves.
P ITY
T HE twink ling mists of green and goldAfloat in the abyss ofair
,
From out the window high and oldWe wat ched together there.
The monstrous fabric ofthe townLay black below the cries of painCame t o our cars from up and down
The dimly-l ighted lane .
Olive,your eyes were turned to me,
Seeking a soul t o sympat hiseI wondered what that glow might be,Olive, within your eyes.
Into your trembling words there passedThe sorrow that was sighed through youPity
,a breath from ou t the vast,From unknown hollows blew.
29
Ig t s ner fee t,
What motions of what starry tribes her limbsrepeat.
I , too, firesmit t en , cannot linger I knowthere l ies
Open somewhere this hour a gate t o Paradise,
Its blazing bat tlemen t swit h watchers thronged,O where
I know not, but my flame—winged feet shalllead me there.
O,hurry, hurry, unknown shepherd ofdesires
,
And with thy flock ofbright imperishable firesPen me within the starry fold
,ere the night
fallsAnd I am left alone below immutable walls .Or am I there already
,and is it Paradise
T o look on mortal things with an immortal ’seyes 9
Above the misty brilliance the streets assumeA night-dilated blue magnificence of gloomLike many-templed Nineveh tower beyondtower
And I am hurried on in this immortal hourMine eyes beget new maj esties my spiritgreets
The trams,the high-built glittering galleons
of the streetsThat float through twilight rivers from galaxies
oflight.
32 THE CITY
Nay,in the Foun t of Days they rise, theytake their flight
,
Andwend to t hegreat deep , theHolySepulchre .Those dark misshapen folk t o be made lovelythere
Hurry with me,no t all ignoble as we seem,
Lured by some inexpressible and gorgeousdream .
The earth melts in my blood. The air thatI inhale
Is like enchanted wine poured from t he HolyGrail .
What was that glimmer t hen ? Was it theflash ofwings
As through t he blinded mart rode on theKing of Kings ?
O stay, departing glory, st ay with us bu t aa
And b iirning seraphim shall leap from out
our clay,
And plumed and crested hosts shall shineWhere men have been
,
Heaven hold no lordlier court than earth atCollege Green.
Ah, no , t he wizardy is over t he magic flameThat m ight have melted all in beauty fadesas It came .
The stars are far and faint and strange.The
THE CITY
had I might to l ift the veil,the will t o
dare,
fiery rushing chariots of the Lord arethere,
The whirlwind path, the blazing gates, thetrumpets blown,
The halls of heaven, the majesty ofthrone byt hrone
,
Enraptured faces,hands uplifted,welcome sungBy the thronged gods, tall, golden-coloured,j oyful, young.
DUST
I HEARD them in their sadness say,The earth rebukes the thought ofGodWe are but embers wrapped in clayA little nobler t han the sod.
”
But I have touched t h e lips of clay,
Mother,thy rudest sod to me
Is t hrilled with fire of hidden day,
And haunted by all
THE VIRGIN MOTHER
WHO is that goddess t o whom men shouldpray
,
But her from whom their hearts have turnedaway
,
Out of whose virgin being they were born,
Whose mother nature they have named withscorn
Calling its holy substance common clay.
Yet from this so despised earth was madeThe milky whiteness of those queens whoswayed
Their generations with a light caress,And from some image of whose lovelinessThe heart built up high heaven when itprayed .
Lover, your heart , the heart on which it lies,Your eyes that gaze and th ose alluring eyes
,
Your lips,the lips they kiss, alike had birth
Within that dark divinity ofearth ,Within that mother being you despise.
35
36 THE VIRGIN MOTHER
Ah,when I think t his earth on which I tread
Hath borne these blossoms of the lovely dead,
And makes the living heart I love to beat,
I look with sudden awe beneath my feetAs you with erring reverence overh ead.
DANA
I AM the tender voice calling Away,
Whispering between the beat ings of the heartAnd inaccessible in dewy eyesI dwell , and all unkissed on lovely lips ,Lingering between white breasts inviolate,And fleeting ever from the passionate touch
,
I shine afar, t ill men may not divineWhether it is the stars or the belovedThey follow with rapt spirit. And I weaveMy spells at evening
,folding with dim caress
,
Aerial arms and twilight dropping hair,The lonely wanderer by wood or shore,Till
,filled with some deep tenderness, heyields
,
Feeling in dreams for the dear mother heartHe knew
,ere he forsook the starry way,
And clings there,pillowed far above the
smokeAnd the dim murmur from the duns of men .
I can enchant the trees and rocks, and fillThe dumb brown lips of earth with mystery,Make them reveal or hide the god. I breathe
37
THE EARTH BREATH
FROM the cool and dark- l ipped furrowsBreathes a dim delight
Through the woodland’s purple plumageTo the diamond night .
Aureoles of joy encircleEvery blade of grass
Where the dew—fed creatu res SilentAnd enraptu red pass .
And the restless ploughman pauses,
Turns and,wondering,
Deep beneath his rust ic habitFinds himself a king
For a fiery moment lookingWith t he eyes of God
Over fields a slave at morningBowed him t o the sod .
Blind and dense with revelationEvery moment flies
,
And unto the Mighty Mother,Gay
,eternal, rise
All the hopes we hold, the gladness,Dreams ofthings to be.
39
THE EARTH BREATH
One ofall thy generations,Mother
,hails t o thee.
Hail,and hail, and hail for ever,Though I turn again
From thy joy unto the humanVestiture of pain.
I, thy child who went forth radiantIn the golden prime,
Find thee st ill the mother—heartedThrough my night in time ;
Find in thee the old enchantmentThere behind the veil
Where t he gods, my brothers, linger.Hail
,forever
,hail !
ALTER EGO
ALL the morn a spirit gayBreathes within my heart a rhyme
,’Tis bu t hide and seek we playIn and out the courts of time .
Fairy lover,when my feet
Through the tangled woodland go,
’
T is thy sunny fingers fleetFleck the fire dews t o and fro.
In the moonlight grows a smileMid its rays of dusty pearl’Tis but h ide and seek the while
,
As some frolic boy and girl.
When I fade into the deepSome mysterious radiance showersFrom the jewel-heart of sleepThrough the veil ofdarkened hours.
Where the ring of twilight gleamsRound the sanctuary wrought,
4 1
ALTER EGO
Whispers haunt me— in my dreamsWe are one yet know it not .
Some for beau ty follow longFlying traces some there beSeek thee only for a songI to lose myself in thee.
NATURAL MAGIC
WE are tired who follow afterPhantasy and tru th that fliesYou with only look and laughterStain our hearts with richest dyes.
When you break upon our studyVanish all our frosty caresAs the diamond deep grows ruddy,Filled with morning unawares.
With the stufl’ that dreams are made ofBut an empty house we buildGlooms we are ourselves afraid of,By the ancient starlight chilled.
All unwise in thought or dutyStill our Wisdom envies youWe who lack the living beautyHalf our secret knowledge rue.
Thought nor fear in you nor dreamingVeil the light with mist about
4s
NATURAL MAGIC
Joy, as through a crystal gleaming,Flashes from the gay heart ou t .
Pain and penitence forsaking,Hearts like Cloisters dim and grey
,
By your laughter lured, awakingJoin with you the dance of day.
CHILDHOOD
How I could see through and throughSo unconscious
,tender, kind,
More than ever was known to youOf the pure ways of your mind .
We who long to rest from strifeLabour Stern ly as a du t yBut a magic in your l ifeCharms
,unknowing of it s beauty.
We are pools whose dep ths are toldYou are like a mystic fountain,Issuing ever pure and coldFrom the hollows of the mountain.
We are men by anguish taughtTo distinguish false from trueHigher Wisdom we have not ;Bu t a j oy within guides you.
45
SYMBOLISM
Now when the spirit in u s wakes and broods,
Filled with home yearnings, ; drowsily it
flings
From its deep heart high dreams and mysticmoods,
Mixed wit h the memory of the loved earththings
Clothing the vast with a familiar faceReaching its right hand forth to greet thestarry race.
Wondrously near and clear the great warmfires
Stare from the blue ; so shows the cottagelight
T o the field labourer whose heart desiresThe old folk by the nook
,the welcome
brightFrom the house-wife long parted fi'
om atdawn
So the star villages in God ’s great depth swithdrawn .
47
48 SYMBOLISM
Nearer t o Thee, not by delusion led,Though there no house fires burn nor brighteyes gaze
We rise,but by the symbol charioted
,
Through loved things rising up to Love’sown ways
By these the soul unto the vast has WingsAnd sets the seal celest ial on all mortal things.
IMMORTALITY
WE must pass lik e smoke or live within theSpirit’s fire
For we can no more than smoke unt o theflame return
If our thought has changed to dream ,
will unto desire,As smoke we vanish though themay burn.
Lights of infinite pity star t he grey dusk ofour days
Surely here is sou l ! with it we have eternalbreath
In the fire of love we live,or pass many
ways,
unnumbered ways of dream to death .
49
MYSTERY
WHY does this sudden passion smiteI st retch my hands
,all blind to see
I need the lamp of the World to lightLead me and set me free.
Something a moment seemed t o stoop fromThe night with cool , cool breath on my
faceOr did the hair ofthe twilight droopIts silent wandering ways
About me in the thick wood nettedThe wizard glow looks human-wiseAnd over the tree—tops barred and frettedPonders with strange old eyes.
The tremulous lips ofair blow by meAnd hymn their time-old melodyIts secret st rain comes nigh and nigh me
Ah, brother , come with me ;50
MYSTERY
For here the ancient mother lingersT o dip her hands in the diamond dew,
And'
lave thine ache with cloud-cool fingersTill sorrow die from you .
A NEW WORLD
I WHO had sought afar from earthThe faery land to meet,
Now find content within its girthAnd wonder nigh my feet.
T o-day a nearer love I chooseAnd seek no distant sphere
For aureoled by faery dews '
The clear brown breasts appear.
With rainbow radiance come and goThe airy breaths ofdayAnd eve is all a pearly glowWith moonlit winds a-play.
The lips oftwilight burn my brow,
The arms ofnight caress !Glimmer her white eyes drooping nowWith grave old tenderness.
I close mine eyes from dream to beThe diamond-rayed again
,
52
A NEW WORLD
As in the ancient hours ere weForgot ourselves to men.
And all I though t ofheaven beforeI find in earth below
A sunlight in the hidden coreT o dim the noonday glow.
And with the earth my heart is glad,
I move as one of oldWith mists ofsilver I am cladAnd bright with burning gold.
BROTHERHOOD
TWIL IGHT, a blossom grey in shadowy valleysdwells
Under the radiant dark the deep blue-tintedbells
In quietness reimage heaven within theirb looms
,
Sapphire and gold and mystery. Whatstrange perfumes
,
Out of what deeps arising, all the flower-bellsflin
Unknowging the enchanted odorous song they
sin
Oh,nevgrwas an eve so l iving yet the wood
Stirs no t but breathes enraptured quietude.Here in these shades the ancient knows itself
,
the soul,And ou t of slumber waking starts unto the
c al
What bright companions nod and go alongwith it
Out ofthe teeming dark what dusky creaturesfli t,
55
56 BROTHERHOOD
That t hrough t he long leagues of the islandnight above
Come by me,wandering
,whispering, beseech
ing loveAs in the twilight children gather close andpress
Nigh and m ore nigh wit h shadowy tenderness,Feeling they know not what
,with noiseless
footst eps glideSeeking familiar lips or hearts to dream beside .O voices
,I would go with you, with you,
away ,Facing once more the radiant gateways of the
day ;With you, wit h you , what memories arise,
and nighTrampling the crowded figures of the dawn
go by,Dread deities, the giant powers that warredon men
Grow tender brothers and gay children onceagain
Fades every hat e away before t he Mother’sbreast
Where all the exiles of th e heart return t orest.
ON A HILL—T O P
BEARD ED with dewy grass the mountainsthrust
Their blackness high into the still grey light,
Deepening to blue ! far up the glimmeringheight
In silver transience shines the starry dust .
Silent the sheep about me fleece by fleeceThey sleep and stir not I with awe aroundWander uncertain o’er the giant mound,A fire that moves between their peace andpeace .
The city myriads dream or sleep belowAloft another day has but begunUnder the radiance ofthe Midnight SunThe Tree ofLife put forth its leaves to grow.
Wiser than they below who dream or sleep ?I know not but their day is dream to me,And in their darkness I awake to seeA Thought that moves like light Within the
deep.57
58 O N HILL-T O P
Only from dream to dream our spirits passWell
,let us rise and fly from sphere to sphere ;
Some one ofall unto the light more nearMirrors the Dreamer in its glowing glass.
THE VOICE OF THE WATERS
WHERE the Greyhound River windeth
through a loneliness so deep,Scarce a wild fowl shakes the quiet that thepurple boglands keep
,
Only God exults in silence over fields no manmay reap.
Where the silver wave with sweetness fedtiny lives of grass
I was bent above,my image mirrored in
fleeting lass,And a voice rom out the water throughbeing seemed to pass .
Still above the waters brooding, spirit, inthy timeless quest
Was the glory of thine image trembling overeast and west
Not divine enough when mirrored in themorning water’s breast
59
60 THE VOICE OF THE WATERS
With the sighing voice t hat murmured I
was borne to ages dimEre the void was lit with beau t y breathed
upon by seraphim,
We were cradled there together folded inthe peace in Him.
One t o be the master spirit,one t o be t he
slave awoke,
One t o shape itself obedient t o the fiery wordswe spoke,
Flame and flood and stars and mountainsfrom the primal waters broke .
I was huddled in the heather when the visionfailed it s light,
Still and blue and vast above me towered aloftthe solemn hei ht,
Where the stars like dewdrops glistened onthe mountain slope ofnight.
KRISHNA
(Imitat ed from a fragmen t of t h e Vaishnava Scrip tures .!
I PAUSED beside the cabin door and saw theKing of Kings at play
,
Tumbled upon the grass I spied the littleheavenly runaway.
The mother laughed upon the child made gayby its ecstatic morn
,
And yet the sages spake of It as of t h e
Ancient and Unborn .
I heard the passion breathed amid the honeysuckle scented glade
,
And saw the King pass lightly from thebeauty that he had betrayed.
I sawhim pass from love to love and yet thepure allowed His claim
T o be the purest of the pure, thrice holy,stainless
,without blame.
I saw the open tavern door flash on the duska ruddy glare
,
A nd saw the King of Kings outcast reelbrawling through the starlit air .
A nd yet He is t he Prince of Peace ofwhomt he ancient wisdom tells,
61
FREEDOM
I WI LL not follow you,my bird
,
I will not follow you.I would not breathe a word , my bird,T o bring thee here anew.
I love the free in thee, my bird,The lure offreedom drew
The light you fly toward,my bird
,
I fly with thee unto.
And there we yet will meet, my bird,Though far I go from you
Where in the light outpoured, bird,
love and
53
THE EARTH
THEY tell me that the earth is still the sameAlt hough the Red Branch now is but aname,
That yonder peasant lifting up his eyesCan see the marvel of the morning rise,The wonder Deirdre gazed on when she
came.
I cannot think the hearts that beat so highHad not a lordl ier palace roof of sky,And that the earth on which the heroestrod
Seemed not to live beneath them like a godWho loved them and could answer to their
cry .
Who said the sun will shine with equal faceAlike upon the noble and the base ?The mighty only t o the mighty seemsThe world that loomed through proud andgolden dreams
Has dropped behind this world and left not race.
64
THE EARTH 65
When t hat the proud and golden race passed
This cold paternal majesty on high,
This unresponsive ear t h beneath the feet,
Replaced the dear brown breasts that were sosweet
,
The face ofbrooding love within the sk y.
How could a beggar wear the kingly crown,
Or t hose who weakly laid the sceptre down,
Walk ’mid the awful beau ty God had madeFor t hose whose hearts were proud and un
afraid,Careless ifon His face were smile or frown P
TO ONE CONSECRATED
YO UR paths were all unknown to usWe were so far away from youWe mixed in thought your spirit thusWith whit eness, s t ars of gold, and dew.
The Might y Mother nourished youHer breath blew from her mystic bowers ;Their elfin glimmer floated throughThe pureness ofyour shadowy hours.
The Mighty Mother made you wise,
Gave love t hat clears the hidden waysHer glooms were glory to your eyes,Her darkness bu t the fount of days.
You wit h all gentleness she graced,
And beaut y radiant as the morn’s !She made our joy in yours
,then placed
Upon your head a crown of thorns.
Your eyes are filled with tender lightFor those whose eyes are dim with tearsThey see you r brow is crowned and brightBut not its ring of wounding spears.
66
FO RGIVENESS
A'
r dusk the window panes grew greyThe wet world vanished in the gloomThe dim and silver end of dayScarce glimmered t hrough the little room.
And all my sins were told I saidSuch things to her who knew not sinThe sharp ache throbbing in my head
,
The fever running high within.
I touched wit h pain her puritySin’s darker sense I could not bringMy soul was black as night to meT o her I was a wounded thing.
I needed love no words could say ;She drew me softly nigh her chair,My head upon her knees t o lay,With cool hands that caressed my hair .
She sat with hands as if t o bless,And looked with grave, ethereal eyesEnsouled by ancient ! uietness,A gentle priestess ofthe Wise.
67
A WOMAN’S VOICE
Hrs head within my bosom lay,But yet his spirit slipped not throughI only felt the burning clayThat withered for the cooling dew.
It was but pity when I spokeAnd called him to my heart for rest
,
And halfa mother’s love that wokeFeeling his head upon my breast
And half the lion’s tendernessTo shield her cubs from hurt or death
,
Which,when the serried hunters press
,
Makes terrible her wounded breath.
But when the lips I breathed uponAsked for su ch love as equals claimI looked where all the stars were goneBurned in the day’s immortal flame.
Come thou like yon great dawn t o meFrom darkness vanquished, battles doneFlame unto flame shall flow and beWithin thy heart and mine as one.!
68
THE SPIRIT OF THE GAY
WITH the glamour of the GayHow you made our hearts to flameGave each life some airy aimEver round you seemed to playSunlight from some inner day.
Dazzling as with red and goldRich wit h beauty
,love and you th
How were we to know the trut h,
That if all the tale were toldLife for you was sad and c old
For you found if we would wakeAnd the joy make young each heart
,
You who told mu st stand apartAnd you bore it for our sake,Though your heart was nigh t o break .
So your life was like a sphere’sOne side
,all aglow
,m eets day
,
And the other turned away,
Icy—strange and cold appears,
Overhung with starry tears.69
DIVINE VISITATION
T HE heavens lay hold on us the starry raysFondle with flickering fingers brow and eyesA new enchantment lights the ancient skies .What is it looks between us gaze on gazeDoes the wild spirit of the endless daysChase through my heart some lure that ever
fl iesOnly I know the vast within me criesFinding in thee the ending of all ways.Ah
,but they vanish the immortal train
From thee,from me
,depart, yet take from
theeMemorial grace ! laden with adorationForth from this heart they flow that all in vainWould stay the proud eternal powers that
fleeAfter the chase in burning exultation.
7 r
PARTING
A s from our dream we died awayFar OH! I felt the out er thingsYour wind-blown t resses round me play,Your bosom ’s gentle murmurings.
And far away our faces metAs on the verge of the vast spheresAnd in the night our cheeks were wet,I could not say with dew or tears .
O gate by which I entered in I0 face and hair O lips and eyes !Through you again the world IHow away from Paradise 1
72
NIGHT
BURN IN G our hearts ou t with longingThe daylight passedMillions and millions toget her,The stars at last
Purple the woods where the dewdrops,
Pearly and grey,
Wash in the cool from our facesThe flame of day.
Glory and shadow grow one inThe hazel woodLaughter and peace in the stillnessTogether brood .
Hopes all uneart hly are throngingIn hearts of earth
Tongues of the starlight are callingOur souls to birth .
Down from the heaven its secretsD rop one by one
Where time is for ever beginningAnd time is done .
73
NIGHT
There light eternal is overChaos and nightSinging wi th dawn lips for ever,Let there be light
There too for ever in twilightTim e slips away,Closing in darkness and raptureIts awful day.
DAWN SONG
WH IL E the earth is dark and greyHow I laugh within. I knowIn my breast what ardours gayFrom the morning overflow.
Though the cheek be white and wetIn my heart no fear may fallThere my Chieftain leads and yetAncient battle trumpets call.
Bend on me no hasty frownIf my spirit slight your caresSunlike still my j oy looks downChanging tears to beamy airs.
Think me not offickle heartIf with j oy my bosom swellsThough your ways from mine depart
,
In the true are no farewells.
What I love in you I findEverywhere. A friend I greetIn each flower and tree and windOh
,but life is sweet, is sweet l
75
DAWN SONG
What t o you are bolt s and barsAre t o me the arms that guideTo t he freedom of t he stars,Where my golden kinsmen bide.
From my m ount ain top I viewTwilight’s purple flower is gone
,
And I send my song t o youOn t he level light of dawn.
THE HOUR OF THE KING
WHO would think this quiet breatherFrom the world had taken flight ?Yet within the form we see thereWakes the Golden King to-night.
Out upon the face of facesHe looked forth before his sleepNow he knows the starry racesHaunters ofthe ancient deep.
On the Bird of Diamond GloryFloats in mystic floods of songAs he lists Time ’s triple st orySeems but as a day is long.
From the mightier Adam fallingTo his image dwarfed in clay,He will at our voices callingCome t o this side ofthe day.
When he wakes, the dreamy-hearted,He will know not whence he came,And the light from which he partedBe the seraph’s sword offlame,
77
THE HEROES
BY many a dream of God and man mythoughts in shining flocks were led
But as I went through Patrick Street thehopes and prophecies were dead .
The hopes and prophecies were dead ! theycould not blossom where the feet
Walked amid rottenness, or where the brawling shouters stamped the street .
Where was the beaut y that the Lord gave menwhen first they towered in pride
But one came by me at whose word the bittercondemnation died.
His brows were crowned with thorns oflighthis eyes were bright as one who sees
The starry palaces shine o’
er the spark le of
the heavenly seas.! Is it not beautiful ? he cried. O ur Faery
Land ofHearts’ DesireIs mingled through the mire and mist, yetstainless keeps its lovely fire.
The pearly phantoms with blown hair aredancing where the drunkards reel
79
80 THE HEROES
The cloud frail daffodils shine ou t where filthis splashing from the heel .
0 sweet, and sweet, and sweet to hear, themelodies in rivers run
The rapt ure of t heir crowded notes is yet themyriad voice of One.
Those who are lost and fallen here,to—night
in sleep shall pass t he gat e,Pu t on the purples of t he King, and knowthem masters of their fate .
Each wrinkled hag shall reassume the plumesand hues of paradise
Each brawler be enthroned in calm among theChildren of the Wise.
Yet in the council with the gods no one willfalter to pursue
His lofty purpose , bu t come fort h the cycliclabours to renew
And t ake t he bu rden of the world and veilhis beauty in a shroud
,
And wrestle wit h the chaos t ill the anarch tothe light be bowed .
We canno t for forgetfulness forego the reverence due to them
Who wear at times they do not guess thesceptre and the diadem .
As bright a crown as this was theirs when firstthey from the Father sped
SELF-DISCIPLINE
WHEN the soul sought refuge in the placeofrest,
Overborne by strife and pain beyond control,
From some secret hollow,whisper soft
confessed,
Came the legend ofthe soul .
Some bright one of old time laid his sceptredown
So his heart might learn of sweet and bittertruth
Going forth bereft of beauty,t hrone
,and
crown ,And the sweetness ofh is youth.
So the old appeal and fierce revolt we makeThrough the world’s hour dies wit hin ou r
primal willAnd we justify the pain and hearts that break ,
And our lofty doom fulfil .
83
THE MAN TO THE ANGEL
I HAV E wept a m illion tearsPure and proud one, where are thine,What the gain though all thy yearsIn unbroken beauty shine ?
All your beau ty cannot winTruth we learn in pain and sighsYou can never enter inTo t he circle of the wise .
They are but the slaves oflightWho have never known the gloom
,
And between the dark and brightWilled in freedom t heir own doom.
Think not in you r pureness there,
That our pain bu t follows sinThere are fires for those who dareSeek the throne of might to win.
Pure one , from your pride refrainDark and lost amid the strifeI am myriad years ofpainNearer t o the fount of life.
84
THE MAN TO THE ANGEL
When defiance fierce is thrownAt the god to whom you bow
,
Rest the lips of the UnknownTenderest upon my brow.
In a t empest d ream or b eau t y ligh t ing up th eface of faces .
Half our eyes behold the glory ; half withinthe Spirit ’s glow
Echoes of the noiseless revels and the will ofBeauty go .
By a hand of fire uplifted— to her star-strewnpalace brought
,
T o the mystic heart of beauty and the secretof her thought
Here of yore t he ancient Mot her in the firemists sank to rest
,
And she built her dreams about her,rayed
from ou t her burning breastHere the wild will woke within her lightingup her flying dreams
,
Round and round the planets whirlingbreak in woods and flowers andstreams,
And the winds are shaken from them as theleaves from offthe rose
,
And the feet of earth go dancing in the waythat beauty goes
,
And the souls of earth are kindled by theincense ofher breath
As her light alternate lures them through thegates ofbirth and death.
O ’er the fields of space together following herflying traces,
In a radiant tumult thronging , suns and stars
88 A VISION OF BEAUTY
Mount the spirit spires of beauty,reaching
onward to the dayWhen the Shepherd of the Ages draws hismisty hordes away
Through the glimmering deeps to silence,and
wit hin t he awful foldLife and j oy and love forever vanish as atale is told
,
Lost within t he Mother’s being . So thevision flamed and fled
,
And before the glory fallen every other dreamlay dead.
THE VESTURE OF THE SOUL
l P ITI ED one whose tattered dressWas patched, and stained wit h dust andHe smiled on me I could not guessThe viewless Spirit ’s wide domain.
He said,The royal robe I wear
Trails all along the fields of lightIts silent blu e and silver bearFor gems the starry dust of night .
The breath of Joy unceasinglyWaves to and fro its folds starlit,And far beyond earth ’s miseryI live and breathe the joy of it .
89
COMFORT
DARK head by the fireside brooding,
Where upon your earsWhirlwinds of t he earth intrudingSound in wrath and tears
Tender-hearted, in your lonelySorrow I wou ld fainComfort you, and say that onlyGods could feel su ch pain.
Only spirits know such longingFor the far away
And the fiery fancies throngingRise not out of clay .
Keep the secret sense celestialOf the starry birth
Though about you call the bestialVoices of the earth.
If a thousand ages sinceHurled us from the throne
Then a thousand ages winsBack again our own.
9 1
COMFORT
one,
away your tearsMount again anew
In t he great ancestral spheresWaits the throne for you.
WARNING
PURE at heart we wander nowComrade on the quest divine
,
Turn not from the stars your browThat you r eyes m ay rest on mine.
Pure at heart we wander nowWe have hopes beyond to—dayAnd our quest does not allowRest or dreams along the way.
We are,in our distant hope,
One with all the great and wiseComrade , do not t urn or gropeFor some lesser light that dies .
We must rise or we must fallLove can know no middle wayIf the great life do not call
,
Then is sadness and decay.
9 3
REFUGE
TW I L IGHT , a timid fawn, went glimmeringby,
And Night,the dark—blue hunter
,followed
fast,Ceaseless pursuit and flight were in the sky,B ut the long chase had ceased for us at
last.
We watched together while the driven fawnHid in the golden thicket of the day .
We, from whose hearts pursuit and flightwere gone,
Knew on the hunter’s breast her refugelay.
THE BURNING—GLASS
A SHAFT of fire t hat falls like dew,And melts and maddens all my blood
,
From out thy spirit flashes throughThe bu rning-glass of womanhood.
Only so far here must I stayNearer I miss the light
,the fire
I must endure the t orturing ray,
And with all beauty,all desire.
Ah, time long mu st the effort be,And far the way that I must go
To bring my spirit unto thee,
Behind the glass, wit hin the glow.
BABYLON
T HE blue dusk ran between the streets ! mylove was winged within my mind
,
It left t o-day and yesterday and thrice athousand years behind.
T o-day was past and dead for me, for fromto-day my feet had run
Through thrice a thousand years t o walk theways of ancient Babylon .
On temple top and palace roof the burnishedgold flung back the rays
Of a red sunset that was dead and lostbeyond a million days.
The tower of heaven turns darker blue, astarry sparkle now begin s
The mystery and magnificence,the myriad
beauty and t he sinsCome back t o me. I walk beneath theshadowy multitude oftowers
Within the gloom the fountain jets its pallidmist in lily flowers .
The waters lull me and the scent of manygardens, and I hear
97
THE FACES OF MEMORY
DREAM faces bloom around your faceLike flowers upon one stem
The heart ofmany a vanished raceSighs as I look on them.
The sun rich face ofEgypt glows,
The eyes of Eire brood,
With whom the golden Cyprian showsIn lovely s isterhood .
Your tree of life put forth these flowersIn ages past away
They had the love in other hoursI give to you to-day.
One light their eyes have,as may shine
One star on many a sea,
T hey look that tender love on mineThat lights your glance on me .
They fade in you their lips are fainT o meet the old caress
And all their love is mine againAs lip t o l ip we press.
9 9
THE MESSAGE
Do you not feel the white glow in your breast,my bird
That is the flame oflove I send t o you fromafar
Not a wafted kiss, hardly a whispered word,But love itself that fl ies as a white-wingedstar.
Let it dwell there , let it rest there, at homein your heart
Wafted on winds of gold,it is Love it self
,
the Dove.Not the god whose arrows wounded with
bitter smart,Nor the purple-fiery birds ofdeath and love.
Do no t ask for the hands of love or love’ssoft eyes
They give less than love who give all,
giving what wanes.I give you the star-fire
,the heart-way t o
Paradise,With no death after, no arrow with stinging pains.
(00
THE SINGING SILENCES
WH I L E the yellow constellations shine withpale and tender glory,
In the lilac—scen ted stillness let u s listen toear th’s story .
A ll the flowers like mot hs a—flu t t er glimmerrich with dusky hu es
Everywhere around u s seem to fall fromnowhere t he sweet dews.
Through the drowsy lu ll,the murmur
,stir of
leaf and sleepy hum ,
We can feel a gay heart beating, hear a m agicSing ing com e .
Ah,I think that as we l inger light ing ateart h ’s olden fire
Fitful gleams in clay that perish,l itt le sparks
that soon expireSo the Mot her brims her gladness from a lifebeyond her own,
From whose darkness as a fountain up thefiery days are thrown
Starry words that wheel in splendour, sunnysystems
,histories,
IO !
AFFINITY
Yo u and I have found t he secret way,None can bar our love or say us nayAll the world may stare and never knowYou and I are twined toge ther so .
You and I for all h is vau nted widthKnow t h e giant Space is but a mythOver miles and miles of pure deceitYou and I have found our lips can meet.
You and I have laughed t he leagues apar tIn the soft delight of heart t o heart .If there ’s a gulf to meet or limi t se t ,You and I have never found it yet .
You and I have trod t he backward wayTo the happy heart of yesterday
,
T o the love we felt in ages past .You and I have found it still t o last.
You and I have found the joy had birthIn the angel childhood of the earth,Hid wit hin the heart of man and m aid.You and I of Time are not afraid.
103
104 AFFINITY
You and I can mock his fabled wing,For a kiss is an immortal thing.And the throb wherein those old l ipsIs a living music in us yet.
A CALL
DUSK it s ash-grey blossoms sheds on violetskies
,
Over twilight mountains where the hear tsongs rise
,
Rise and fall and fade away from earth to air .Earth renews the music sweeter . Oh, comethere.
Come, acushla, come , as in ancient timesRings aloud the underland with faery chimes.Down the unseen ways as strays each tinkling
fleeceWinding ever onward to a fold of peace,So my dreams go straying in a land more
fairHalf I tread the dew-wet grasses
,half wander
there .Fade your glimmering eyes in a world growncold
Come, acushla, wi t h m e to the mountains old .
There the bright ones call us waving to andfro
Come,my children, with me to the ancient go.
105
CARROWMO RE I 07
Oh , the very sunlight’s weary ere it lightens
up the dew,
And its gold is changed and faded before itfalls to you.
Though your co lleen ’s heart be tender,a
tenderer heart is near .What’s the starlight in her glances when thestars are shining clear
Who would kiss the fading shadow when theflower-face glows above ?
’Tis the beau ty of all Beauty that is callingfor your love.”
Oh the great gates of the mountain haveopened once again
,
And the sound of song and dancing fallsupon the ears of men ,
And the Land of Youth lies gleaming , flushedwith rainbow light and mirth ,
And t h e old enchantm ent lingers in t he
honey—heart ofearth.
THE DREAM OF THE CHILDREN
T HE children awoke in t heir dreamingWhile eart h lay dewy and still
They followed t h e rill in it s gleamingTo t he heart- light oft he hill .
Its sounds and sight s were forsakingThe world as t hey faded in sleep
,
When they heard a music breakingO u t from t he heart—light deep .
It ran where the rill in it s flowingUnder t he st ar—light gay,With wonderfu l colour was glowingLike the bubbles t hey blew in their play.
From t he m isty mountain underShot gleam s of an opal starIts pathways of rainbow wonderRayed to their feet from afar.
From their fee t as they strayed in the meadowIt led through caverned aisles
,
Filled with purple and green light and shadowFor mys t ic miles on miles .
108
DREAM O F THE CHILDREN 109
The children were glad it was lonelyT o play on t he hillside by day.But now,
” they said,we have only
T o go where the good people stray.
For all the hillside was hauntedBy the faery folk come again
And down in the heart-light enchantedWere opal- coloured men.
They moved like kings unattendedWithout a squire or dame
,
But they wore t iaras splendidWith feathers of starlight flame.
They laughed at the children overAnd called them into the heart.Come down h ere , each sleepless roverWe will show you som e of our art.
”
And down through t he cool of t he mountainThe children sank at the call,And stood in a blazing fountainAnd never a mountain at all.
INSPIRATION
LIGHTEST ofdancers, with no thoughtThy glimmering feet beat on my heart
,
Gayest of singers,wi t h no care
Waking to beauty the still air,
More than the labours of our art,
More than our wisdom can impart,Thine idle ecstasy hat h taugh t .
Lost long in solemn ponderings,With the blind shepherd mind for guide
,
The uncreated j oy in youHath lift ed up my heart untoThe morning st ars in t heir first pride
,
And the angelic j oys t hat glideHigh upon heaven—uplifted wings.
A MEMORY
You remember, dear, toget herTwo children, you and 1,Sat once in the au tumn weather,Wat ching the autum n sky.
There was some one round us st rayingThe whole ofthe long day through,Who seemed to say, I am playingAt hide and seek with you .
”
And one thing after anotherWas whispered ou t of t he air
,
How God was a big , kind brotherWhose home is in everywhere.
His light like a sm ile comes glancingThrough the coo l, cool winds as they passFrom the flowers in heaven dancingTo the stars t hat shine in the grass.
From the clouds in deep blue wreathingAnd most from the mountains tall
,
But God like a wind goes breathingA dream ofHimself in all.
A MEMORY
The heart ofthe Wise was beatingSweet
,sweet , in our hearts that day
And many a thought came fleetingAnd fancies solemn and gay.
We were grave in our way diviningHow childhood was taking wings,
And the wonder world was shiningWith vast eternal things.
The solemn twilight flutteredLike the plumes of seraphim ,
And we felt what things were utteredIn the sunset voice of Him .
We lingered long,for dearer
Than home were the mountain placesWhere God from t he stars dropt nearerOur pale
,dreamy faces.
Our very heart s from beatingWe stilled in awed delight
,
For spirit and ch ildren were meetingIn t h e purple
,ample n ight.
A SUMMER NIGHT I I 5
And glimmer o ’er with wave—lips everywhereLifted t o meet the angel lips of air.The many homes of men shine near and far
,
Peace-laden as the tender evening star,
The late home-coming folk anticipateTheir rest beyond t he passing of the gate
,
A nd t read with sleep-filled hearts and drowsyfeet .
Oh,far away and wonderful and sweet
All t his,all this . But far too many things
Obscuring , as a cloud of seraph wingsBlinding t he seeker for t he Lord behind
,
I fall away in weariness of mind .
And think how far apart are I and you,
Beloved , from those spirit children whoFelt bu t one single Being long ago
,
Whispering in gentleness and leaning lowOut of it s majest y, as child to child .
I think upon it all with heart grown wild.
Hearing no voice,howe ’er my spirit broods
,
No whisper from the dense infinit udes ,This world of myriad things whose distance
awes .Ah me how innocent our childhood was !
THE WEAVER OF SOULS
WHO is this u nseen messengerFor ever between m e and her,Who brings love ’s precious merchandise
,
The golden breat h,the dew ofsighs
,
And t he wild, gentle though t s that dwellT O O fragile for the lips t o t ell
,
Each at t heir birth , to us beforeA heaving of t he heart is o ’erWho art thou
,unseen messenger
I t hink, 0 Angel Ofthe Lord,You m ake our heart s t o so accordThat t ho se who hear in after hou rsMay sigh for love as deep as ours ;And seek the m agic that can giveAn Eden where the soul may live,Nor need to walk a road Of clayWit h st umbling feet
,nor fall away
From t hee , 0 Angel oft he Lord.
I I6
THE SILENCE OF LOVE
I COULD praise you once with beautiful wordsere you came
And entered my life with love in a wind offlame.
I could lure with a song from afar my birdto It s nest
,
But with pinions drooping together silenceis best.
In the land of beautiful silence t he winds arelaid
,
And life grows quietly one in the cloudyshade .
I will not waken the passion that sleeps inthe heart
,
For the winds that blew us together mayblow u s apart .
Fear not the stillness for doubt and despairshall cease
Wit h the gentle voices gu iding us intopeace.
I I 7
CREATION
As one by one the veils took flight,
The day withdrew, the stars came up.The spirit issued pale and brightFilling thy beau ty lik e a cup .
Sacred thy laughter on the air,
Holy thy ligh t est word that fell,
Proud the innumerable hairThat waved at the enchanter’s spell.
0,Master of the Beautiful
,
Creating us from hour t o hour,Give me this vision to the fu llT o see in lightest things thy power.
This vision give, no heaven afar,NO throne, and yet I will rejoiceKnowing beneath my feet a starThy word in every wandering voice.
n g
THE WINDS OF ANGUS
T HE grey road whereupon we trod becameas holy ground
The eve was all one voice that breathed itsm essage wit h no sound
And burning multitudes pour through myheart, too bright , too blind,
T O O swift and hurried in t heir flight to leavet heir tale behind.
Twin gates unto that living world,dark
honey-coloured eyes,
The lift ing of whose lashes flushed the facewith Paradise ,
Beloved,there I saw within their ardent rays
unfoldThe likeness of enraptured birds that flewfrom deeps of gold
T o deeps of gold wi thin my breast to rest,
or there to beT ransfigured in the light, or find a death tolife in me .
50 love, a burning multitude , a seraph windthat blows
120
THE WINDS OF ANGUS 1 2 1
From out the deep of being to the deep Ofbeing goes.
And sun and moon and starry fires and earthand air and sea
Are creatures from the deep let loose, whopause in ecstasy ,
Or wing their wild and heavenly way unt ilagain they find
The ancient deep,
and fade therein,en
raptured,bright, and blind.
APHRODITE I 23
The burning doves fly from my heart,and
melt within her bosom there .I know the sacrifice of old they offered t o the
mighty queen ,
And this adoring love has brought u s back thebeauty that has been .
As to her worshippers she came descendingfrom her glowing skies,
So Aphrodite I have seen with shining eyeslook t hrough your eyes
One gleam of the ancestral face which lightedup the dawn for m e
One fiery visitation ofthe love the gods desirein thee !
THE MEMORY OF EARTH
IN the wet dusk silver sweet,Down the violet scented ways,As I moved with quiet feetI was met by mighty days.
On the hedge the hanging dewGlassed the eve and stars and skiesWhile I gazed a madness grewInto thundered battle cries .
Where the hawthorn glimmered white,
Flashed the spear and fell the strokeAh
,what faces pale and bright
Where t he dazzling battle broke
There a hero-hearted queenWith young beauty lit the vanGone the darkness flowed betweenAll the ancient wars of man.
While I paced the valley’s gloomWhere the rabbits pattered near
,
Shone a temple and a tombWith the legend carven clear
[24
MEMORY OF EARTH
put by a myriadfatesdat e!” in glory
D eath made wide a million ga tes
So to close her tragic
IN THE WOMB
ST ILL rests the heavy share on the dark soilUpon the black mould thick t he dew-damplies
The horse waits pat ient from h is lowly toilThe ploughboy to the m orning lifts his eyes .
The unbudding hedgerows dark against day ’sfires
Glitter with gold-lit crystals on t he rimOver the unregarding city ’s SpiresThe lonely beauty shines alone for him .
And day by day the dawn or dark enfoldsAnd feeds wi t h beau ty eyes that cannot seeHow in her womb t he mighty mot her mouldsThe infant spirit for eternit y.
1 27
SUNG ON A BY—WAY
WHAT of all the will to do ?It has vanished long ago ,For a dream—shaft pierced it throughFrom t he Unknown Archer’s bow.
What ofall the soul to t hink ?Some one offered it a cupFilled wit h a diviner drink,And the flame has burned it up .
What of all t he hope to climb ?Only in t he self we grope
To the m is t y end of t im eTruth has pu t an end to hope.
What of all t he heart t o love ?Sadder than for will or soul
,
NO light lured it on aboveLove has found it self t he whole.
128
JANUS
IMAGE ofbeau ty, when I gaze on thee,Trem bling I waken to a mystery
,
How t hrough one door we go to life or deathBy spirit kindled or the sensual breath.
Image ofbeauty,when my way I go
NO single j oy or sorrow do I knowElate for freedom leaps the starry power
,
The life which passes mourns its wasted hour .
And,ah
,to think how thin the veil that lies
Between the pain of hell and paradise !Where the cool grass my aching head
embowersGod sings the lovely carol of the flowers.
129
THE GREY EROS
Though I am so feeble now,
I remember when our prideCould not t o the M ighty bowWe would sweep His stars aside.
Mix thy youth wit h thoughts like thoseIt were but t o wither thee
,
But to graft the youthful roseOn the Old and flowerless tree.
Age is no more near than youthTo the sceptre and the crown.
Vain the wisdom,vain the truth
D o not lay thy rapture down.
DUALITY
From me spring good and evil.
WHO gave thee such a ruby flaming heartAnd such a pure cold spirit Side by sideI know these must eternally abideIn intimate war, and each to each impartLife from its pain
,in every joy a dart
To wound with grief or death the self allied.Red l ife within the spirit crucified,The eyes eternal pit y thee t hou artFated with deathless powers at war t o be
,
Not less the martyr of the world than heWhose thorn-crowned brow usurps the dueof tears
We would pay to thee, ever ruddy life,Whose passionate peace is still t o be at strife,O
’
ert hrown but in the unconflict ing spheres.
I3a
TRUTH
T HE hero first thought i tT O h im
’twas a deedT o those who retaught it
,
A chain on their speed.
The fire that we kindled,A beacon by night
,
When darkness has dwindledGrows pale in the light.
For life has no gloryStays long in one dwelling ,And time has no storyThat ’s true twice in telling.
And only the teachingThat never was spokenIs worthy thy reaching
,
The fountain unbroken.
133
FANTASY I 35
Thrones , and starry kings around her,dark
embatt led planet nat ions.There the mighty rose in greeting
,as their
child from exile turningSmiled upon the awful faces o’er the thronesupernal burning .
As with sudden sweetness melting,shone the
eyes,the hearts of home
,
Changed the vision,and the Mother vanished
in the vasty dome.So from marvel unto marvel turned the face
I gazed upon,
T ill its fading maj esty grew tender as a childat dawn
,
And the heaven of heavens departed and thevisions passed away
With the seraph O f the darkness martyred inthe fires ofday.
THE MOUNTAINEER
O H, at the eagle’s height
To lie i’ the sweet of t he sun,While veil after veil takes flightAnd God and the world are one.
Oh,the night on the steep
All that his eyes saw dimGrows light in the dusky deep
,
God alone with
I3O
THE GOLDEN AGE
WH EN the morning breaks above usAnd the wild swee t stars have fled
,
By the faery hands t hat love u sWakened you and I will t read
Wh ere the lilacs on the lawnShine wit h all their silver dews
,
In the stillness Ofa dawnWrapped in tender primrose hues.
We will hear the st range Old songThat the eart h croons in her breast
,
Echoed by the feathered throngJoyous from each leafy nest.
Earth,whose dreams are we and they
,
With her hear t ’s deep gladness fillsAll our human lips can say,Or t he dawn—fired singer trills .
She is rapt in dreams divineAs her clouds of beauty pass
,
On our glowing heart s t hey shine,
Mirrored there as in a glass .137
THE MASTER SINGER
A LAUGHTER in the diamond air,a music in
the t rembling grassAnd one by one the words of light as j oydropsthrough my being pass
I am t he sunlight in the heart,the silver
moon-glow in the mindMy laughter runs and ripples through thewavy t resses ofthe wind .
I am the fire upon the hills,the dancing
flame t hat leads afarEach burning-hearted wanderer
,and I the
clear and homeward star .A myriad lovers died for me
,and in t heir
latest yielded breathI woke in glory giving them immortal lifethough touched by death .
They knew me from the dawn of t ime if
Hermes beats h is rainbow wings ,If Angus shakes his locks of light, or golden
haired Apollo sings,
It matters not the name,the land ! my joy
in all the gods abides139
THE MASTER SINGER
Even in the cricket in the grass some dimnessofme smiles and hides.
For j oy Of me the daystar glows,and in
delight and wild desireThe peacock twilight rays aloft it s plumesand blooms of shadowy fire,
Where in the vastness too I burn throughsummer nights and ages long
,
And with t he fiery-footed watchers shake in
myriad dance and song.”
INHERITANCE
A s flow the rivers to the seaAdown from rocky hill or plain
,
A thousand ages toiled for t heeAnd gave thee harvest oftheir gainAnd weary myriads of yoreDug ou t for thee earth’s buried ore.
The shadowy toilers for thee foughtIn chaos of primeval dayBlind battles with they knew not whatAnd each before he passed awayGave clear articulate cries ofwoeYour pain is theirs oflong ago.
And all the Old heart sweetness sung,
The joyous life of man and maidIn forests when the earth was young
,
In rumours round your childhood strayedThe careless sweetness ofyour mindComes from the buried years behind.
And not alone unto your birthTheir gifts the weeping ages bore
,
14I
IN AS MUCH
WHEN for love it was fain ofThe wild heart was chidden
,
When t he white limbs were clothedAnd t he beaut y was hidden
For the scorn that was done toThe least of her graces
,
The Mother veiled overAnd hid from our faces
The high soul of nature,
The deep and the wonder,
Her towers up in heaven,
And the fairyland un der .
The Mother then whispered,The wrong done by thee
T o the least l imb ofbeautyWas done unto me.
143
THE SEER
O H,if my spirit may foretellOr earlier impart
,
It is because I always dwellWith morning in my heart.
I feel the keen embrace oflightEre dawning on the viewIt sprays the chilly fo ld of nightWith iridescent dew .
The robe of dust around it castHides not the earth below
,
It s heart ofruby flame, the vastMysterious gloom and glow.
Something beneath yon coward gazeBetrays the royal lineIts lust and hate, bu t errant rays,Are at their root divine.
I hail the light Of elder yearsBehind the niggard mould
,
The fiery kings,t he seraph seers
,
As in the age of gold.
144
THE SEER
And all about and through the gloomBreaths from the golden clime
Are wafted like a sweet perfumeFrom some most ancient time.
LIGHT AND DARK
NO T the soul that’s whitestWakens love the sweetest
When the heart is lightestOft the charm is fleet est .
While the snow-frail maiden,
Waits the time of learning,
T o the passion ladenTurn with eager yearning.
While the heart is burningHeaven with earth is banded
T o the stars retu rningGo not empty-handed.
Ah,the snow-frail maiden !Somehow truth has missed her
,
Left t he heart unladenFor it s burdened Sister.
t 47
RECALL
WHAT call may draw thee back again,Lost dove
,what art
,what charm
pleaseThe tender tou ch, the kiss, are vain,For thou wert lured away by these.
Oh, must we use the iron hand,And mask with hate the holy breath
,
With alien voice give love’s command,through love the call ofdeath ?
(48
A LEADER
THOUGH your eyes with tears werePain upon the path you trodWell we knew
,the hosts behind
,
Voice and shining of a god.
For your darkness was our daySignal fires, your pains untoldLit us on our wandering wayT O the mystic heart Ofgold.
Naught we knew of the high land,
Beauty burning in its spheresSorrow we could understandAnd the mystery told in tears.
l 409
THE PAIN OF EARTH
DOES the earth grow grey with griefFor her hero darling fledThough her vales let fall no leaf,In our hearts her tears are shed.
Still the stars laugh on aboveNot to them her grief is saidMourning for her hero loveIn our hearts the tears are shed.
We her children mourn for him,
Mourn the elder hero deadIn the twilight grey and dimIn our hearts the tears are shed.
1 5!
UNCONSCIOUS
T HE winds, the stars , and the skies thoughwrought
By the heavenly King yet know it not ;And man who moves in the twilight dimFeels not the love that encircles him,
Though in heart, on bosom, and eyelids pressLips of an infinite tenderness,He turns away through the dark t o roamheeds the fire h is hearth and home.
152
LOVE
ERE I lose myself in the vastness and drowsemyself with the peace
,
While I gaze on the light and t he beautyafar from the dim homes of men
,
May I still feel the heart-pang and pity,love
ties that I would not releaseMay the voices of sorrow appealing call meback to their succour again.
Ere I storm with the tempest of power thethrones and dominions ofO ld,
Ere the ancient enchantment allure me t o
roam through the star-misty skies,
I would go forth as one who has reaped wellwhat harvest the earth may unfold
May my heart be o’
erbrimmed with compassion ; O u my brow be the crown Ofthe wise.
I would go as the dove from the ark sentforth with wishes and prayers
T o return with the paradise blossoms thatbloom in t he Eden oflight
1 53
OM
A MEMORY
FAINT grew the yellow buds of lightFar flickering beyond the snows
,
As leaning o’
er t he shadowy whiteMorn glimmered like a pale primrose.
Within an Indian vale belowA child said O M with tender heart
,
Watching with loving eyes the glowIn dayshine fade and night depart.
The word which Brahma at his dawnOutbreath es and endeth at his night
,
Whose tide of sound so rolling onGives birth t o orbs of pearly light
And beauty, wisdom , love, and youth,By it s enchantment gathered growIn agelong wandering to the truth,Through many a cycle’s ebb and flow.
155
1 56 OM
And here the voice Of earth was stilled,
The child was lifted t o t he WiseA strange delight h is spirit filled,And Brahm looked from his shining eyes.
INDIAN SONG
SHADOWY-PETA LLED , like the lotus, loom themountains with their snows
Through the sapphire Soma rising such aflood ofglory throws
As when first in yellow splendour Brahmafrom the Lotus rose.
High above the darkening mounds wherefade the fairy lights ofday,
All the tiny planet folk are waving us fromfar away
Thrilled by Brahma’s breath they Sparkle withthe magic ofthe gay.
Brahma,all alone in gladness, dreams the joys
that throng in space,Shepherds all the whirling splendours onward
to their resting place,Where in worlds of lovely silence fade in onethe starry race.
1 57
NUTS KNOWLEDGE 1 59
Is but a ruddy berry dropped down throughthe purple air
,
And from the magic tree oflife the fru it fallseverywhere.
CHILDREN OF LIR
WE woke from our sleep in the bosom wherecradled together we lay
The love ofthe dark hidden Father went withus upon our way.
And gay was the breath in our being, andnever a sorrow or fear
Was on us as , singing together, we flew fromthe infinite Lir.
Through night s lit with diamond and sapphirewe raced with the children of dawn,
A chain that was silver and golden linkedspirit to spirit
,my swan
,
Till day in the heavens passed over,and still
grew the beat of our wings,And the breath of t he darkness enfolded toteach us unspeakable things.
Yet lower we fell and for comfort our pinionless spirits had now
The leaning Ofbosom to bosom,the lifting of
lip unto brow.
t 6o
CHILDREN OF LIR 161
Though chained t o the earth yet we mournednot the loss ofour heaven above,
But passed from the vision of beauty t o thefathomless being oflove.
Still gay is the breath in our being,we wait
for the bell branch t o ringT o call us away t o the Father, and then we
will rise on the wing,And fly through th e twilights of time till the
home lights ofheaven appearOur spirits through love and through long
ing made one in the infinite Lir.
PRAYER
In quiet we may hear t he Old primeval cryGod gives wisdom t o the spirit that upturns
Let us adore now, you and I .
Age on age is heaped about us as we hearCycles hurry t o and fro with giant treadFrom the deep unto the deep ! but do not
fear,For the soul unhearing them is dead.
BENEDICTION
Now the rooftree ofthe midnight spreading,Buds in citron
,green, and blue
From afar it s mystic odours Shedding,Child, on you .
Now the buried stars beneath the mountainAnd the vales their life renew,Jetting rainbow blooms from tiny fountains,
Child, for you .
In the diamond air the sun-star glowing,Up its feathered radiance threw
All the j ewel glory there was flowing,Child
,for you.
As wit hin the quiet waters passing,Sun and moon and st ars we view,
So t he loveliness oflife is glassing,Child, in you.
And the fire divine in all things burningSeeks the mystic heart anew
,
From its wanderings far again returning,
Child,t o you .
164
THE MID-WORLD
TH I S is the red, red regionYour heart must journey throughYour pains will here be legionAnd joy be death for you .
Rejoice t o-day ! t o-morrowA turning tide shall flowThrough infinite tones of sorrowT o reach an equal woe.
You pass by love unheedingT o gain the goal you longBut my heart, my heart is bleedingI cannot sing this song.
165
REMEMBRANCE
knew the hearts we wronged ofwould find
When we came t o the fold King forrest in the night.
THE VISION OF LOVE
T HE twilightfleet edaway in pearl on the stream,
And night,like a diamond dome, stood still
in our dream.
Your eyes like burnished stones or as starswere bright
With the sudden vision that made us onewith the night.
We loved in infinite spaces,forgetting here
The breasts t hat were lit with life and thelips so near
Till the wizard willows waved in the windand drew
Me away from the fulness of love and downt o you.
Our love was so vast that it filled the heavensup
But the soft white form I held was an emptycup,
When the willows called me back t o earthwith t heir sigh
,
And we moved as shades through the deepthat was you and I .
168
THE CHRIST-SWORD
T HE while my mad brain whirled aroundShe only looked with eyes elateImmortal love at me. I foundHow deep the glance oflove can wound
,
How cruel pity is t o hate.
I was begirt with hostile spearsMy angel warred in me for youWhose gentle calmness all too fierceMade unseen lightnings to pierceMy heart that dripped with ruddy dew.
I know how on the final dayThe hosts ofdarkness meet with deathThe angels with their love shall slay
,
Flowing t o meet the dark arrayWith terrible yet tender breath.
169
WHOM WE WORSHIP
I WOU LD not have the love of lips and eyes,The ancient ways oflove
But in my heart I built a Paradise,
A nest there for the dove .
I felt the wings ofl ight that fluttered throughT he gate I held apart
And all without was shadow,but I knew
The bird within my heart.
Then,while the innermost with music beat
,
The voice I loved so longSeemed only the dream echo faint and sweet
Of a far sweeter song .
I could not even bear the thought I feltOf Thee and Me therein
And with white heat I strove the veil t o meltThat love t o love might win.
But ah,my dream s within their fountain fell
Not to be lost in thee,But with the high ancestral love t o dwell
In its lone ecstasy;17 1
REFLECTIONS
H ow shallow is this mere that gleams !Its depth ofblue is from the skies,And from a distant ~sun the dreamsAnd lovely light within your eyes.
We deem our love so infiniteBecause the Lord is everywhere,And love awakening is made brightAnd bathed in that diviner air.
We go on our enchanted wayAnd deem our hours immortal hours
,
Who are but shadow kings that playWith mirrored majesties and powers.
17a
THE MORNING STAR
IN the black pool of the midnight Lu hasslung the morning star
,
And its foam in rippling silver whitens intoday afar
Falling on the mountain rampart piled withpearl above our glen
,
Only you and I,beloved
,moving in the fields
Of men.
In the dark tarn of my Spirit,love
,the
morning star,is lit
And its halo,ever brightening, lightens into
dawn in it .Love, a pearl-grey dawn in darkness, breathing peace without desire
But I fain would shun the burning terrors ofthe mid-day fire.
Through the faint and tender airs Of twilightstar on star may gaze,
But the eyes of light are blinded in the whiteflame of the days,
173
ILLUSION
WHAT is the love Of shadowy lipsThat know not what they seek or press
,
From whom the lure for ever slipsAnd fails their phantom tenderness ?
The mystery and light of eyesThat near t o mine grow dim and coldThey move afar in ancient skiesMid flame and mystic darkness rolled.
O beauty,as thy heart o ’
erflows
In tender yielding unto me,A vast desire awakes and growsUnto forgetfulness ofthee.
t 7S
THE DREAM
I WOKE t o find my pillow wetWith tears for deeds deep hid in sleep.I knew no sorrow here, but yetThe tears fell softly through the deep.
Your eyes, your other eyes ofdream,
Looked at me through the veil ofblankI saw their joyous, starlit gleamLike one who watches rank on rank.
H is victor airy legions windAnd pass before his awful throneWas there thy loving heart unkind
,
Was I thy captive all o ’
ert hrown ?
176
YO U look at me with wan , brigh t eyesWhen In the deeper world I stray
You fear some h idden ambush liesIn wait t o call me , Come away.
What if I see behind the veilYour starryOr at it s stern command growLet be let be
1 77
THE TIDE OF SORROW
O N the twilight-burnished hills I lie and longand gaze
Where below the grey-lipped sands drink inthe flowing tides
,
Drink, and fade and disappear ! interpretingtheir waysA seer in my heart abides.
Once the diamond dancing day-waves lavedthy thirsty lips
Now they drink the dusky night-tide runningcold and fleet
,
Drink,and as the chilly brilliance o
’
er theirpallor slips
They fade in the touch they meet.
Wave on wave of pain where leaped of old
the billowy joysHush and still thee now unmoved to drink
the bitter sea,Drink with equal heart ! be brave ; and life
with laughing voiceAnd death will be one for thee.
x79
1 80 THE TIDE OF SORROW
Ere my mortal days pass by and in theworld be done
,
Oh, t o know what world shall rise within thespirit’s ken
When it grows into the peace where lightand dark are one !What voice for the world ofmen
WEARINESS
WH ERE are now the dreams divine,
Fires that lit the dawning soul,
As the ruddy colours shineThrough an Opal aureole ?
Moving in a joyou s trance,
We were like the forest gloomsRumorous of Old romance
,
Fraught with unimagined dooms.
Titans we or morning stars,
So we seemed in days of old,
Mingling in the giant warsFought afar in deeps of gold.
God,an elder brother dear,
Filled with kindly light our thoughtMany a radiant form was nearWhom our hearts remember not .
Would they know us now? I thinkOld companions ofthe prim eFrom our garments well might shrink,Muddied with the lees ofTime.
18 1
THE TWILIGHT OF EARTH
T HE wonder of the world is o ’erThe magic from the sea is gone
There is no unimagined shore,
No islet yet to vent ure on .
The Sacred Hazels’ blooms are shed,
The Nuts ofKnowledge harvest ed.
Oh, what is worth this lore ofageIf time shall never bring us back
Our battle with the gods t o wageReeling along the starry track.
The battle rapture here goes byIn warring upon things that die.
Let be the tale Of him whose loveWas sighed between white Deirdre ’s breasts
,
It will not lift the heart aboveThe sodden clay on which it rests.
Love once had power the gods to bringAll rapt on it s wild wandering.
We shiver in the falling dew,And seek a shelter from the storm
183
A home without a circling wall .
We dwindle down beneath the skies,And from ourselves we pass awayThe paradise of memoriesGrows ever fainter day by day.
The shepherd stars have shrunk within,The world’s great night will soon begin.
Will no one,ere it is too late
,
Ere fades the last memorial gleam,
Recall for us our earlier state ?For nothing but so vast a dream
That it would scale the steeps of airCould rouse us from so vast despair.
The power is ours to make or marOur fate as on the earliest morn,The Darkness and the Radiance areCreatures within the spirit born.
Yet, bathed in gloom t oo long, we mightForget how we imagined light .
Not yet are fixed the prison barsThe hidden light the spirit ownsIf blown t o flame would dim the starsAnd they who rule them from their t hrones
And the proud sceptred spirits thenceWould bow to pay us reverence.
THE TWILIGHT OF EARTH
Oh , while the glory sinks withinLet us not wait on earth behind,
But fo llow where it flies,and win
The glow again , and we may findBeyond the Gateways Of the DayDominion and ancestral sway.
A PRAYER
O HO LY Spirit ofthe Hazel,hearken now
Though shining suns and silver moons burnon the bough
,
And though the fruit of stars by many myriadsgleam
,
Yet in t he undergrowth below,still in thy
dream,
Lighting the monstrous maze and labyrinthinegloom
Are many gem-winged flowers with gay anddelicate bloom.
And in the shade,hearken
,O Dreamer ofthe
Tree,
One wild-rose blossom of t hy spirit breathedon me
With lovely and still light a little sisterflower
To those that whitely on the tall moonbranches tower .
Lord of the Hazel, now,0 hearken while I
pray.This wild—rose blossom of thy spirit fades
away.187
A LAST COUNSEL
COULD you not in s ilence borrowStrength to go from us ungrieving ?All these hours ofloving sorrowOnly make more bitter leaving.
You will go forth lonely,thinking
Of the pain you leave behind youFrom the golden sunlight shrinkingFor the earthly tears will blind you.
Better,ah
,if now we parted
For the little while remainingYou would seek when broken-heartedFor the mighty heart’s sustaining.
You would go t hen gladly turningFrom our place ofwounds and weeping
,
With your soul for comfort burningT o the mother-bosom creeping.
188
ORDEAL
LOVE and pity are pleading with me thishour.
What is this voice that stays me forbiddingto yield,
Offering beauty, love, and immortal power,ZEons away in some far—Off heavenly field
Though I Obey thee,Immortal
,my heart is
sore.Though love be withdrawn for love it
bitterly grievesPity withheld in the breast makes sorrow
more.Oh that the heart could feel what the mind
believes !
Cease, 0 love, thy fiery and gentle pleading .
Soft is thy grief, but in tempest throughme it rolls.
D ream’
st thou not whither the path is leadingWhere the Dark Immortal would shepherd
our weeping souls ?
189
THE VOICE OF THE SEA
T HE sea was hoary, hoary,Beating on rock and caveThe winds were white and weepingWith foam dust ofthe wave.
They thundered louder, louder,With storm—lips curled in scornAnd dost thou tremble before us
,
0 fallen star Of morn
19 1
THE HOUR OF TWILIGHT
WHEN the unquiet hours departAnd far away their tumu lts cease,Within the twilight of the heartWe bathe in peace
,are stilled with peace.
The fire that slew us through the dayFor angry deed or sin ofsenseNow is the star and homeward rayT O us who bow in penitence.
We kiss the lips ofbygone painAnd find a secret sweet in themThe thorns once dripped with shadowy rainAre bright upon each diadem.
Ceases the Old pathetic strife,The struggle with the scarlet SinThe mad enchanted laugh oflifeTempts not the soul that sees within.
No riotous and fairy songAllures the prodigals who bowWithin the home oflaw
,and throng
Before t he mystic Father now,
19 2
THE H O UR OF TWILIGHT 1 9 3
Beckon
RECOLLECTION
THROUGH the blue shadowy valley I hastenedin a dream
Flower rich the night , flower soft the air,a
blue flower the stream1 hurried over before I came t o the cabindoor,
Where the orange flame—glow danced withinon the beaten floor .
And the lovely mother who drooped by thesleeping child arose
And I see how with love her eyes are glad,her face how it glows .
And I know all this was past ten thousandyears away,
But in the Ever-Living yesterday is here toda
And this beauty made dust we cry out for
with so much pain.Unknown lover
,I lived over your j oy again .
Long dead maiden, your breasts were warmfor the living head.
It is we who have passed from ourselves,from beauty which is not dead.
1 95
1 9 6 RECOLLECTION
I k now, when I come t o my own immortal ,I will find there
In a myriad instant all that the wanderingsoul found fair
Empires t hat never crumbled,and thrones all
glorious yet,And hearts ere they were broken
,and eyes
ere t hey were wet.
THE WELL OF ALL-HEALING
THERE’S a cure for sorrow in the well at
B allylee
Where the scarlet cressets hang over thetrembling pool
And joyfu l winds are blowing from the Landof Youth t o me
,
And the heart of t he earth is full.
Many and many a sunbright maiden saw theenchanted land
With star faces glimm er up from the druidwave
Many and many a pain of love was soothedby a faery hand
Or lost in the love it gave .
When the quiet wit h a ring of pearl shallwed the earth ,
And the scarlet berries burn dark by thestars in the pool
Oh,it
’
s lost and deep I ’ll be amid the Danaanmirth,
While the heart of the earth is fu ll .19 7
A NEW THEME
And sound the horn I cannot blow,And by the secret nameEach exile ofthe heart will knowKindle the magic flame.
THE FOUNTAIN OF SHADOWYBEAUTY
A DR EAM
I WOULD I could weave in
The colour, the wonder,The song I conceive in
My heart while I ponder,
And show how it came like
Whose chant was aflame likeThe dawn
’
s voice ofgold
Whose dreamsfollowed near them
A murmur ofbirds,And ear still could hear them
Unchanted in words .
In words I can onlyReveal thee my heart ,
O h,Ligh t of t he Lonely,The sh ining imp art .
The lights danced up before my eyesI found no sleep or peace or rest
,
But dreams of stars and burning skies.
I knew the faces of the dayDream faces , pale , with cloudy hair,I knew you not nor yet your home ,The Foun t of Shadowy Beauty, where ?
I passed a dream of gloomy waysWhere ne’er did human feet intrudeIt was the border Ofa wood,A dreadful forest solitude .
With wondrou s red and fairy goldThe clouds were woven o’er the oceanThe stars in fiery mt her swungAnd danced with gay and glittering motion.
A fire leaped up within my heartWhen first I saw the old sea shine ;As if a god were there revealedI bowed my head in awe divine
And long beside the dim sea margeI mu sed until the gathering hazeVeiled from me where the silver tideRan in its thousand shadowy ways .
FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY 203
Oh , never such a glory wasThe pale moon shot it through and throughWith light oflilac, white and blueAnd there mid many a fairy h ue
,
Of pearl and pink and amethyst,
Like lightning ran the rainbow gleamsAnd wove around a wonder-mist.
The Pilot lifted beckoning handsSilent I went with deep amazeT O know why came this Beam of LightSO far along the ocean waysOut ofthe vast and shadowy night.
Make haste,make haste !” he cried. ! Away!
A thousand ages now are gone .Yet thou and I ere night be spedWill reck no more ofeve or dawn.
Swift as the swallow to its nestI leaped my body dropt right downA Silver star I rose and flew.
A flame burned golden at his breastI entered at the heart and knewMy Brother-Selfwho roams the deep,Bird of the wonder-world ofsleep.
The ruby vesture wrapped us round
204 FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY
The distance rushed upon the barkWe neared unto the mystic islesThe heavenly city we could mark,Its mountain light
,it s jewel dark,
Its pinnacles and starry piles.
The glory brightened Do not fearFor we are real, though what seemsSO proudly bu ilt above t he wavesIs bu t one mighty spirit’s dreams.
Our Father’s hou se hath many fanes ;Yet enter not and worship not
,
For thought but follows after thoughtTill last consuming self it wanes.
The Fount OfShadowy Beauty flingsIt s glamour o ’er the light OfdayA mu sic in the sunlight singsTo call the dreamy hearts awayTheir mighty hopes to ease awhileWe will not go the way of themThe chant makes drowsy those who seekThe sceptre and the diadem.
The Foun t of Shadowy Beauty t hrows
FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY 205
It s dreams flash l ike the peacock ’S wingAnd glow with sun hues of desire.We will not follow In their waysNor heed the lure of fay or elf
,
Bu t In the ending of our daysRest in t he high Ancestral Self.
The boat ofcrystal touched t he shore,
Then melted flamelik e from our eyes,
As in the twilight drops the sunWithdrawing rays of paradise .
We hurried under arched aislesThat far above in heaven withdrawnWith cloudy pillars stormed the night
,
Rich as the Opal shafts of dawn .
I would have lingered t hen— but heOh
,let us haste the dream grows dim
,
Another night, another day,A thou sand years will part from him
,
Who is that Ancient One divineFrom whom our phant om being bornRolled with the wonder-light aroundHad st arted in the fairy morn.
A thousand of our years to him
FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY 207
T o pass the gateways Of the day,
The exiles to the heart returned.
He rose t o greet us and his breath,
The tempest music ofthe spheres,
Dissolved the memory ofearth,
The cyclic labour and our tears .In him our dream of sorrow passed
,
The spirit once again was freeAnd heard the song the morning starsChant in eternal revelry.
This was the close ofhuman storyWe saw the deep unmeasured shine,And sank within the mystic gloryThey called of Old the Dark Divine.
Well it is gone now,
The dream t hat I chanted
O n this side the dawn nowI sitfat e-implanted.
But though ofmy dreamingThe dawn has bereft me,
It all was not seemingFor something has left me.
Ifeel in some other
FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY
I too in the
Would hide me, and so,B righ t B ird, toforegatherWith thee now I go.
THE FEAST OF AGE
SEE where the light streams over Connla’sfountain
Starward aspireThe sacred sign upon the holy mountain
Shines in white fireWavering and flaming yonder o ’er the snows
The diamond lightMelts into silver or t o sapphire glows
,
Night beyond nightAnd from the heaven of heaven descends on
earthA dew divine
Come,let us mingle In the starry mirthAround the shrine.
O earth,enchan tress , mother, t o our homeIn thee we press,
Thrilled by thy fiery breath and wrapt in someVast tenderness .
The homeward birds, uncertain o’er their nest
Wheel in the dome,Fraught with dim dreams ofmore enraptured
rest,Anot her home.
209
THE FEAST OF AGE
And enter the innumerable AllAnd shine like gold ,
And starlike gleam in the immortal’s hall,
The heavenly fold,
A nd drink the sun-breaths from the mother ’sli sAwhile
,and then
Fail from the light and drop in dark eclipseTo earth again ,
Roaming along by heaven—hid promontoryAnd valley dim ,
Weaving a phantom image of the gloryThey knew in Him.
Out of the fulness flow the winds, their songIs heard no more,
Or hardly breathes a mystic sound alongThe dreamy shore,
Blindly they move,unknowing as in trance
Their wanderingIs half with us, and half an inner dance,
Led by the King.
GLORY AND SHADOW
SHA DOW
WHO art thou, 0 Glory,In flame from t he deepWhere stars chant their storyWhy trouble my sleep ?I hardly had restedMy dreams wither now.
Why comest thou crestedAnd gemmed on thy brow
GLORY
Up,Shadow
,and follow
The way I will ShowThe blue gleaming hollowT O -night we shall knowAnd rise through the vastThe fount ain of daysFrom whence we had passedThe parting ofways.
2 12
SHADOW
I know thee,O Glory
Thine eyes and thy browWith white-fire all hoaryCome back to me now.
Together we wanderedIn ages agoneOur thoughts as we ponderedWere stars at the dawn .
My glory has dwindled,
My azu re and goldYet you keep unkindledThe sunfire of old.
My footsteps are t ied toThe heath and the stoneMy thoughts earth—allied—to,Ah, leave me alone .GO back, thou ofgladness,Nor wound me with pain ,Nor smite me with madness
,
Nor come nigh again.
GLORY
Why tremble and weep now,
Whom stars once obeyedCome forth t o the deep nowAnd be not afraid.
The Dark One is calling
THE ROBING OF THE KING
O N the bird Ofair blue-breasted glint the raysofgold ,
And its shadowy fleece above us waves theforest O ld,
Far through rumorous leagues of m idnightstirred by breezes warm .
See the Old ascetic yonder, ah, poor witheredform,
Where he crouches wrinkled over by un
numbered yearsThrough the leaves the flakes of moon-fire
fall l ike phantom tears.At the dawn a kingly hunter swept in proud
disdain,Like a rainbow torrent scattered flashed hisroyal train.
Now the lonely one unheeded seeks earth’scaverns dim
Never king or prince will robe them radiantlyas him
’Mid the deep enfolding darkness follow him,
O seer,
2 15
gold and am eth yst,Curling
,jett ing, and disso lving in a rainbow
mist .In t he jewel glow and lunar radiance rises
t hereOne , a morning star in beauty, young,immortal
,fair
Sealed in heavy sleep, the spirit leaves itsfaded dress
,
Unto fiery youth returning out Of weariness.Music as for one departing
,joy as for a
kinSound and swell, and hark ! above himcymbals triumphing
Fire , an aureole encircling, suns his browwith gold ,
Like to one who hails the morning on themountains old.
Open mightier vistas,changing human loves
to scorns,
And the spears of glory pierce him like acrown of thorns.
High and yet more high to freedom as a birdhe springs,
And the aureole outbreathing, gold and silverWings
Plume the brow and crown the seraph soonh is journey done
THE ROBING THE KING 2 1 7
He will pass our eyes that follow,sped
beyond the sun .
None may know the mystic radiance, King,will t here be t hine,
Far beyond t he light enfolded in the darkdivine.
A CALL O F THE SIDHE 2 1 9
Come thou away with them for Heaven toEart h is calling.
These are Earth ’s voice— her answer— spiritsthronging .
Come to the Land ofYouth the trees grownheavy there
Drop on the purple wave the st arry fruitthey bear .
Drink the immortal waters quench theSpirit’s longing.
Art thou not now, bright one, all sorrow past ,in elation
,
Made young with j oy, grown brother-heartedwith the vast,
Whither thy spiri t wending fli ts the dim starspast
Unto the Light ofLights in burning adoration
ON A HILLSIDE
A FR I EN DLY mountain I knowAs I lie on the green slope t hereIt sets my heart in a glowAnd closes the door on care.
A thought I try to frameI was with you long agoMy soul from your heart out-cameMountain , is that not so
Take me again,dear hills
,
Open the door t o meWhere the magic murmur thrillsThe halls I do no t see,
The halls and caverns deepThough sometimes I may dareDown the twilight stairs ofsleepT o meet the kingly there.
Sometimes on flaming wingsI sit upon a throneAnd watch how the great star swingsAlong the sapphire zone.
220
ON A HILLSIDE
It has wings of its own for flight,Diamond its pinions strong
,
Glories Of Opal and white,
I watch the whole night long.
Until I needs must layMy royal robes as ideTo toil in a world of grey,Grey shadows by my side.
And when I ponder it o ’erGrey memories only bide,But their fading lips tell moreThan all the world beside.
THE CHILD OF DESTINY
TH I S is the hero-heart ofthe enchanted isle,
Whom now the twilight children tenderlyenfold,
Pat with their pearly palms and crown withelfin gold
,
While in the mountain ’s breast his brotherswatch and smile.
Who now of Dana ’s host may guide thesedancing feet
What bright immortal hides and through achild’s light breath
Laughs an immortal j oy— Angus of love anddeath
Returned t o make our hearts with dream andmusic beat
Or Lu leaves heavenly wars t o free hisancient land
Not on the fiery steed maned with tumultuousflame
As in the Fomor days the sunbright chieftaincame,
But in this dreaming boy, more subtle conquestplanned.
223
Or does the Mother brood some deed of
sacrificeHer heart in his laid bare to hosts ofwounding' spears
,
Till love immortal melt the cruel eyes to tears,Or on his brow be set the heroes’ thornyprize.
See ! as some shadows of a darker race drawnear
,
Howhe compels t heir feet, with what a proudcommand
What is it waves and gleams ? Is that aSilver Hand
Whose light through delicate lifted fingersshines so clear
Night like a glowing seraph o’
er the kinglyboy
Watches with ardent eyes from his own
ancient home ;And far away, rocking in living foamThe three great waves leap up exulting intheir joy,
Remembering the past, the immemorial deedsThe Danaan gods had wrought in guise of
mortal men,
Their elemental hearts madden with lifea am
,
And shaking foamy heads toss the great oceansteeds.
MAGIC
AFT ER READ ING TH E U PAN ISHAD S
O UT Ofthe dusky chamber of the brainFlows the imperial will through dream on
dreamThe fires of life around it tempt and gleamThe lights Of earth behind it fade and wane .
Passed beyond beauty tempting dream on
dream,
The pure will seeks the heart—hold of thelight
Sounds the deep OM ,the mystic word of
mi htForth from the heart-hold breaks the living
stream.
Passed ou t beyond the deep heart music-filled,The kingly will sits on the ancient throne,Wielding the sceptre
,fearless, free, alone,
Knowing in Brahma all it dared and willed.
225
A FAREWELL
I 00 down from the hills half in gladness,
and half with a pain I depar t,
Where the Mot her with gentlest bre athingmade music on lip and in heart
For I know that my childhood is over acall comes out of the vast
,
And the love that I had in the old time,like
beauty in twilight,is past.
I am fired by a Danaan whisper of battlesafar in the world
,
And my thought is no longer of peace, for
the banners in dream are unfurled,
A nd I pass from the council of stars and ofhills to a life that is new
And I bid to you stars and you mountains atremulous long adieu .
I will come once again as a master, whoplayed here as Child in my dawn
I will enter the heart of the hills where thegods ofthe old world are gone.
227
228 A FAREWELL
And will war l ike the bright Hound ofUllawith princes ofearth and of sky .
For my dream is to conquer the heavens andbatt le for kingship on high.
ON BEHALF OF SOME IRISHMEN
NOT FOLLOWERS OF TRADITION
TH EY call us aliens, we are told ,Because our wayward Visions strayFrom that dim banner they unfold
,
The dreams of worn-out yesterday.The sum of all the past is theirs
,
The creeds, the deeds, the fame, the name ,Whose death-created glory flaresAnd dims the spark of living flame.They weave the necromancer’s Spell
,
And bu rst the graves where martyrs slept,
Their ancient story to retell,
Renewing tears the dead h ave wept .And they would have u s join their dirge,This worship of an extinct fireIn which they drift beyond the vergeWhere races all ou tworn expire.The worship ofthe dead is notA worship that our hearts allow,
Though every famous shade were wroughtWith woven thorns above the brow.
We fling our answer back in scorn229
AN IRISH FACE
NO T her own sorrow only that hath placeUpon yon gent le face.T oo slight have been her Childhood’s years
to gainThe imprint Of such pain.
It hid behind her laughing hours, and
wroughtEach curve in saddest thoughtOn brow and lips and eyes. With subtle artIt made that little heartThrough its young joyous beatings to
prepareA quiet shelter there,Where the immortal sorrows might find a
home.And many there have comeBowed in a mournfiil mist ofgolden hairDeirdre hath entered there .And shrouded in a fall of pitying dew,
Weeping the friend he slew,
The Hound of Ulla lies, with those whoshed
Tears for the Wild Geese fled.231
232 AN IRISH FACE
And all the lovers on whom fate had warredCut t ing the silver cordEnter , and softly breath by breath they
m ouldThe young heart t o the O ld,The old protest
,t he O ld pity, whose power
Are gat hering t o the hourWhen t heir knit silence shall be mightier farThan leagued empires are .
And dreaming ofthe sorrow on this faceWe grow of lordlier race,Cou ld shake the rooted rampart of the hillsT o shield her from all ills,And through a deep adoring pity wonGrow what we dream upon .
ON THE WATERS
O UR boat drifts in the heart of heat,
In starry dances plays the lightAbove the wave our glances meetThe warmest world of blue and bright .At harmony are sky and sea
Your face shines on me young and gay,And life has given all t o meThat heart cou ld wish t his happy day.
Yet I have grown so sudden O ld
Your laughter sounds afar I seemAs one who wakening tries t o holdA figure that he loved in dream
,
And feels it lost beyond recallIn worlds unconquerable ; so IAm in an instan t rapt from all
I might be veiled within the sky.
The clouds swim in the heavenly blueAnd still I see the waters shine,In tender tones a name floats toA vanished self that once was mine.
233
ON THE WATERS
The doom is spoken . It may beThat I shall never more forgetIn all my thoughts of thee and meThe maya wherein life is set
,
This wizardry shall still pursueAll things we h ad found firm or fair
,
Till life itself seem frail as dewOr bubble glistening on the air.
Your eyes hold mine once more. You rface
Again allures . Oh,let us fly
There is some magic in this placeWou ld mar the dream of You and I .Come
,let us bend unto the oar,
Pu ll swift,beloved
,there may be
Safe home on t hat far glimmering shoreOh fly from the enchanted sea !
GODS OF WAR
1 9 14
FATE waft s u s from th e pygmies ’ shoreWe swim beneath the epic skiesA Rome and Carthage war once more,And wider empires are t he prizeWhere the beaked galleys clashed 10
,these
O ur iron dragons ofthe seas
High o’er the cloudy bat tle sweepThe winged chariots in t heir flightThe steely creatures of the deepCleave the dark waters’ ancient nightBelow, above, in wave , in air,New worlds for conquest everywhere .
More terrible than spear or swordThose stars that burst with fiery breathMore loud the batt le cries are pouredAlong a hundred leagues Ofdeath.
SO do they fight . How have ye warred,
Defeated Armies of the Lord ?236
GODS OF WAR
This is the Dark Immortal ’s hour,
His victory,Whoever fail
His prophets have not lost their powerCe sar and Attila prevail.These are your legions still
,proud ghosts
,
These myriad embattled hosts.
How wanes Thine empire,Prince of Peace
With the fleet c ircling of the sunsThe ancient gods t heir power increaseLo , how Thine own anointed onesMake holy all Thy sou l abhorred
,
The hate on which Thy love had warred .
Who dreamed a dream mid outcasts bornCould overbrow the pride of kings ?They pour on Christ the ancient scorn .
H is Dove it s gold and silver wingsHas spread . Perhaps it nests in flameIn outcasts who abj ure His name .
Choose ye your rightfu l gods, nor payLip reverence that t he heart denies.O Nations, is not Z eus t o—day,The thunderer from the epic skies ,More than the Prince of Peace Is ThorNot nobler for a world at war
They fit the dreams of power we hold,
BATTLE ARDOUR
UNTO what heaven wends this wild ecstasy ?IS the fired spirit light upon its wings
,
Self being outcast,as t he diver fl ings
His garment so that every limb be free ?Is it an instant of eternityAttained because no earthly terror clings ?No t now it battles for t he rights of kings .This ecstasy is all it s own t o be! uit of itself, mounted upon the powerThat
,like Leviathan
,breaks from the deep
Primeval and all conquering . He dies !Yet has he conquered in t hat very hour .He and his foeman the same tryst do keep .
His foemen are his brothers in the skies.
239
CONTINUITY
N0 Sign is made while empires pass .The flowers and stars are still His care,The const ellations hid in grass,The golden miracles in air .
Life in an inst ant will be rentWhere death is glittering blind and wildThe Heavenly Brooding is intentTo that last instant on It s child.
It breathes the glow in brain and heart,
Life is made magical . UntilBody and Spirit are apartThe Everlast ing works It s will.
In that wild orchid that you r feetIn their next falling shall destroy,Minut e and pass ionat e and sweetThe Mighty Master holds H is j oy.
Though the crushed jewels droop and fadeThe Artist’s labours will not cease
,
And of the ruins shall be madeSome yet more lovely masterpiece.
240
I SAW in dream our mighty hunter rideLike one distraught
,and maddening where
he trod,
Trampling to dust the cities of our pride,And yet he seemed a god.
He gloomed above me with his famished eyes ,With thorns
,a fiery circlet
,round his head .
H is robes had broken heart s for broideriesAnd trailed in liquid red .
And on my fear he cast a scornful gaze! I
,once the King
,am outcast of the soul .
A thing of dread,I follow on your ways
Till t ime has made you Whole .
I was the fire t hat sped you forth to huntThe monstrous life t hat coiled in fen or wave,The fearless joy t hat went with you to frontThe dragon in its cave .
241
ARES
King have I been and foe in ages past .None may escape me . I am foe un t ilThere shall be for the Spirit forged at lastThe high unshakeable will .
My k indred are they, beaut y , wisdom,lOVe ;
But wit hout me are none may dare to climbT o the Ancestral Ligh t t hat glows aboveIt s mirrored lights in Time .
Fear I will rend you . Love ! I make youstrong .
Wed with my might the beautiful and wise ,We shall go fort h at last , a Tit an throng,T o storm His Paradise.”
FOREBODING
WHY do these t ragic fancies throngAbout t he subj ec t of my song
,
Whose heart and lips, twin fountains, sprayA foam Offanc ies ever gayOh
,t ell me
,why should eyes be wet
In m using upon Margaret ?
Why is t h e dream of her alliedWit h empires humbled in their pride ?Why should I see t his face offlowersM id cit ies with t heir bu rning towersWhy should a thorny crown be setAbove t he brows of Margaret
Who breat he t oo long the golden airsMust wres t le after wit h despairs .
We warred with elemental powersWhile you have come a way of flowers.You r fee t are all unst ained
,bu t ye t
Your feet have strayed,O Margaret .
Beauty and strengt h as creat ures roamAthirst for their eternal home
,
244
FOREBODING
Yet come they singly unalliedThe heavenly city is denied .
Till loveliness and power are met,
No heaven for you , poor Margaret .
How cou ld you tame , so slight and fair,The burning dragon of the air
,
Till qu eened am id its awful wingsThey bear you t o the King ofKings ?Such high adventures are not setFor frailty
,gay Margaret .
So many glories passed away,
Rome,Babylon, and Nineveh
Their beauty kept a lonely heartFrom the dim underworld apart,And by barbaric host s besetThey fell as you shall , Margaret .
Yet still you might the kingdom claimWithout the mart yrdom and shame ,Cou ld you bu t seek of you r accordThat other angel of the Lord ,Hold ou t t he hands when you have met,The way is pity, Margaret.
SHADOWS AND LIGHTS
WHAT gods have me t in conflict t o arouseThis whirling shadow of invisible things
,
These hosts that writ he amid the shat teredsods ?
0 Father, and O Mother of the Gods ,Is there some t rouble in the heavenly house ?We who are cap tained by it s unseen kingsWonder what t hrones are shaken in the skies ,What powers who held dominion o ’er our
willLe t fall the sceptre , and What destiniesThe younger gods may drive us to fulfil .
Have t hey not swayed us , earth’s invisible
lords,With Whispers and with breathings from the
dark ?The very border-stones of nations markWhere silence swallowed some wild prophet ’s
wordsThat rang bu t for an instant and were still ,Yet were so burthened with eternity,
247
And many a glittering thicket ofkeen swordsFlashed ou t to make one law for land and sea,That earthmight movewith heaven in company.
The cities that t o myriad beauty grewWere altars raised unto old gods who died
,
And th ey were sacrificed in ru ins toThe younger gods who took their place ofpride
They have no brotherhood,the deified
,
No high companionship of throne by throne,
But will their beauty still to be alone.
What is a nation but a mu ltitudeUnited by some god-begotten mood
,
Some hope of libert y or dream of powerThat have not wit h each other brotherhoodBut warred in spirit from their natal hour
,
Their hatred god-begott en as their loveReverberations of et ernal strife ?For all that fury breat hed in human life
,
Are ye not guilty, answer, ye above
Ah, no, the circle of the heavenly ones,That ring of burning , grave, inflexible powers,Array in harmony amid the deepThe golden legionaries of the suns
,
Ours,
The Morning Stars their labours of the dawnClose at the advent of the Solar Kings
,
And these with joy their sceptres yield,with
drawnWhen the still Evening Stars begin their reign
,
A nd twilight time is thrilled with homingWin 3
To t he All-Father Being turned again.
No ,not on high begin divergent ways
,
The galaxies of interlinked lightsRejoicing on each other’s beauty gaze
,
’
Tis we Who do make errant all the raysThat stream upon us from the astral heights
,
Love in our thickened air too redly burnsAnd unto vanity our beau ty turnsWisdom, that gently whispers us to partFrom ev il
,swells to hatred in the heart.
Dark is the Shadow of invisible thingsOn us who look not up, whose V ision fails.The glorious shining of the heavenly kingsT o mould us t o their image naught avails.They weave a robe of many-coloured fireT o garb the spirits moving in the deep,And in the upper air its splendours keepPure and unsullied
,but below it trails
D arkling and glimmering in our earthly mire.
APOCALYPTIC
1 9 1 5
O UR world beyond a year of dreadHas paled like Babylon or Rome .Never for all the blood was shedShall life re turn to it as home .No peace shall e ’er that dream recallThe avalanche is yet to fall .
Laugh,you whose dreams were outlawed
things .The sceptre from the tyrant slips.Earth ’s kings are met by those wild kingsWho swept t hrough the Apocalypse .Ere the first awful hand be stayed,The second Shall have clu tched the blade .
‘On the White ho rse is one who ridesUntil earth ’s empires are o ’
erthrown ,
And a red rider yet abidesWhose trumpet call is still unblown ,Whose battlefield shall be the graveE ither for master or for slave .
25 1
2 52 APOCALYPTIC
Once in a zodiac of yearsEarth st irs beneath her heaving cru st,And high and low,
unheeding tears,Are equal levelled wit h t he dus t .Laugh
,Slave
,t he coming terror brings
Thee to t hat brot herhood wi t h kings.
Laugh t oo , you warriors OfGod,The t yrants ofthe spirit fail .The mitred head shall no more nodA nd mult it udes of men be pale .When empires topple here belowThe heavens which are t heir shadows go .
If the black horse ’s rider reign,
Or the pale horse’s rider fireHis burning arrows
,with disdain
Laugh. You have come t o you r desire,To the last test which yields the rightTo walk amid the halls of light.
You, who have made Ofearth your star,Cry out, indeed, for hopes made vainFor only t hose can laugh who are
The strong Initiates ofPain,
Who know that mighty god to beSculptor of immortality.
TRAGEDY
TH I S, of all fates, would be the saddest endThat that heroic fever
,with its cry
From Children unto Mot her, Here am IShould lose t he very fait h it would defendThat the high soul through passion shou ld
descendTo work t he evil it had willed must die .If it won so , would that be Victory,That t ragic close Oh
,hearken
,foe or friend !
Love,t he magician , and t he wizard Hate,
Tho ugh one be like White fire and one darkflame
,
Work the sam e miracle,and all are wrought
Into t he image t hat they cont emplate .None ever hated in the world bu t cam eTo every baseness of the foe he fought .
253
STATESMEN 2 55
The pride that bu ilded Babylon of Egypt wasthe mighty child
The beauty of the Attic sou l in many a lovelycit y smiled .
The empire t hat is built in pride shall callimperial pride t o birt h ,
And with t hat shadow of i t self mus t fight forempire oft he eart h .
Fight Where ye will on earth or sea,beneath
t h e wave, above t he hills,T h e foe ye meet is still yourselves, the blade
ye forged t he sword t hat kills.
TO THE NEW GODS
YO U , who n ow wield by eart hly rightThe scept res God-conferred of O ld,Who know no law above your might ,No sceptre higher than you holdWe pray you in t he ancient words,Have pity on the people
,lords !
The kings who ruled us from the skiesFor right eousness as tribut e criedYour wrat h dem ands more sacrificeFor word or deed that vexed your pride,O ur manhood t o the bat tle flings.Have mercy on us
,mighty kings !
Whom shall we pray to now to giveThe daily bread for us and ours
,
For by ourselves we cannot liveHear
, we beseech you , awful powers,For blood Ofkin in payment Shed
,
Give us t his day our daily bread
You t ake the father and the son,
The brot her and t he kin away.
256
Will you be Father at it s call
The elder masters of our fateProclaimed a heaven above the stars.You shadow forth the earthlv state.Forgive , O iron avat ars,Our fear the prayer ! Thykingdomcome
,
Invokes some myriad martyrdom.
Yea, you are power before our eyesThe love divine we took on trust.What life you will we but surmiseAnd recreate ourselves in dust
,
Like those t oo hopeless to deceive,
Who also tremble and believe .
The King of Kings made fair the earth ;The feast oflife was nobly setThe summons to that regal mirthWe would not hear or did forget .Sadly He said, ! Love would not win
,
The Iron haiid must draw them In .
’
Spare us, stern ministers oflaw,A little
,while we do repent,
Ere the grim state all life shall drawUnto the feast Of punishm ent
,
The brotherhood that might compels,
The deepest of the human hells.
THE STONE AGE
A FANCY
T HE sun is sultry o ’er the marble lands,
Whose1milky
glimmer branched with glowingo d,
Runsgdownward to the sea’s edge,where untold
Ages the waves with gent ly lapping handsWash into first discoverable sandsThe jewelled margin . Round I turn and holdWithin my gaze the shade of forests old.Each jagged trunk of rock
,no wind moves
,
stands,And shafts of stony blueness sends far outWhere twinkle starlike blossoms crystalline
,
If on their pink profusion the sun slants .Beneath the merry children dance and shou t
,
And on me one whom beauty makes divineLooks with an innocent and curious glance.
259
INVISIBLE KINGS
I WAT C HED all day the sway Ofinvisible kings,The fingers of Air that fondled the murmuring tide,
And shaped it to j ewels of spray and delicatet hin 3 ,
And it yielded t o Air as yields to her lovera bride .
I saw where the sceptre of Light was laid onour star,
How colour in torrents foamed from the peakup on high ,
And flooded the glades, and ran through theforests afar,
And the lanes were silver and golden as dawnpassed by.
In the wat ches of night I felt a mightier King,
In t he silence that lies below life,invisible
,
still .But my thoughts that were dark were madegay as birds on the wing
,
As with Wind in the waters,or sceptre of
Light on the hill.260
IN CONNEMARA
W ITH eyes all untroubled she laughs as shepasses
,
Bending beneath the creel with t he seaweedbrown ,
Ti ll evening with pearl dew dims the shiningrasses
And night lit with dream ligh t en folds thesleepy town.
Then she will wander,her heart all a
laught er,
Tracking the dream star that lights thepurple gloom .
She follows the proud and golden races after,high as t heirs spirit
,as high will be
her doom.
TWILIGHT BY THE CABIN
Throw t h e woman’s mask awayWear the opal glimmering dressLet the feathered starlight rayOver every gleaming tress.
Child of Etain,wherefore leave
Light and laughter,joyful years,
For the earth ’s grey coloured eveEver dropping down with tears
Was it for some love Of oldAh
,reveal thyself. The bars
On the gateway would not holdHe will follow t o the stars.
KINSHIP
IN summer time, wi th high imaginingsOf proud Crusaders and of Paynim kings ,The children crowned themselves wit h famous
names,And fought there
,building up their merry
games,
Their mimic war,from O ld majestic things.
There was no bitter hate then in thefighg
For ancient law ru led vict ory and flight,And
,vict ory and defeat alike forgot
,
They slept toget her in t he selfsame cot,Wit h arms about each o t her through thenight.
Ah,did our great est on the battle-field
See su ch a love, all magical , revealed,Pau sing in combat did t hey recogniseKinships in T irnanoge through flashinge es
,
What lovely brotherhood the foe concealed264
KINSHIP 265
And did t hey know, when all fierce wars weredone,
T o what high home or dun their feet wouldrun
What outstretched love would meet them atthe gate
And that the end of the long road ofhateWas adoration when the goal was won
Could you and I but ofeach other sayFrom what a lordly Hou se we took ourway,And t o what Hostel of the Gods we wend,Oh would we not anticipate the endOh would we not have paradise to—day ?
THE IRON AGE
H OW came this pigmy rabble spun,
After the gods and kings of old,Upon a tapestry begunWith threads ofSilve r and OfgoldIn heaven began the heroic taleWhat meaner destinies prevail
They wove about the antique browA circlet of the heavenly air.T o whom is due such reverence now
,
The thought What deity is there P
We choose the Chieftains ofour raceFrom hucksters in the market place.
When in their councils over allMen set the power that sells and buys
,
Be sure the price oflife will fall,
Death be more preciou s in our eyes.Have all the gods their cycles runHas devil worship now begun
0 whether devil planned or no ,
Life here is ambushed, this our fate,267
This t o the grim mechanic state.The gates of hell are Open wide,But lead to other hells outside.
How has t he fire Promet hean paled ?Who is there now who wills or daresFollow the fearless chiefs who sailed,Celestial advent urers,Who chart ed in undreamt ofskiesThe magic zones of paradise ?
Mankind t hat sought to be god-kind,
To wield the sceptre, wear the crown,What made it wormlike in its mindWho bade it lay the sceptre downWas it through any speech of thee,Misunderst ood of Galilee ?
The whip was cracked in BabylonThat slaves unto the gods might raiseThe golden turrets nigh the sun .
Yet beggars from the dust might gazeUpon the mighty builders ’ artAnd be Ofproud uplifted heart.
We now are servile to the meanWho once were slaves unto the proud.
No lordlier life on earth has beenAlt hough the heart be lowlier bowed .
Is there an iron age to beWith beauty bu t a memory ?
THE IRON AGE
Send forth, who promised long ago,
! I will not leave thee or forsake,
”
Someone to whom our hearts may flowWith adoration
,though we make
The crucifixion be the Sign ,The meed ofall the kingly line.
The morning stars were heard to singWhen man towered golden in the prime .One equ al memory let us bringBefore we face our night in time .Grant us one only evening star,The iron age’s avat ar.
THE PARTING OF WAYS
T HE skies from black to pearly greyHad veered without a star or sunOnly a burning Opal rayFell on your brow when all was done .
Aye,after Vi ctory, the crown
Yet through the fight no word of cheerAnd what would win and what go downNo word could help, no light make clear.
A thousand ages onward ledTheir joys and sorrows to that hourNo wisdom weighed , no word was said ,For only what we were had power.
There was no tender leaning thereOf brow t o brow in loving mood
For we were rapt apart, and wereIn elemental solitude.
We knew not in redeeming dayWhether our spirit s would be found
Floating along the starry way,Or in the earthly vapours drowned.
2 7 1
27 2 THE PARTING O F WAYS
Brought by the sunrise-coloured flameT O earth
,u ncertain yet
,the while
I looked at you ,there slowly came
,
Noble and sisterly,your smile.
We bade adieu to love the oldWe heard another lover then,Whose forms are myriad and untold
,
Sigh to us from the hearts of men.
HOPE IN FAILURE
TH OUGH now thou hast failed and art fallen,
despair not because ofdefeat,
Though ‘lost for a while be thy heaven andweary of earth be thy feet
,
For all will be beauty about thee hereafterthrough sorrowful years
,
And lovely the dews for thy chill ing andruby thy heart-drip of tears.
The eyes that had gazed from afar on abeauty that blinded the eyes
Shall call forth its image for ever, its shadowin alien skies.
The heart that had striven to beat in theheart ofthe Mighty too soon
Shall still of that beating remember someerrant and faltering tune .
For thou hast but fallen t o gather the last ofthe secret s ofpower ;
The beauty that breathes in thy spirit shallShape ofthy sorrow a flower,
273
FAITH
H ERE where the loves ofothers closeThe vision ofmy heart begins .The wisdom that within us growsIs absolution for our sins.
We took forbidden fruit and ateFar in the garden ofHis mind.The ancient prophecies of hateWe proved untrue
,for He was kind.
He does not love the bended knees,
The soul made wormlike in His sight,
With in whose heaven are hierarchiesAnd solar kings and lords ofl ight.
Who come before Him with the prideThe Children ofthe King should bear
,
They will not be by Him denied,His light will make their darkness fair.
T O be afar from Him is deathYet all things find their fount in HimAnd nearing to the sunrise breathShine j ewelled l ike the seraphim.
275
A MIDNIGHT MEDITATION
How Often have I said,We may not grieve for the immortaldead.”
And now,poor blenched heart,
Thy ruddy hues all tremulous depart.Why be with fate at strifeBecause one passes on from death t o life
,
Who may no more delayRapt from our st range and pitiful dreamaway
By one with ancient claimWho robes her With the spirit like a flame.Not lost this high beliefOh, passionate heart, what is thy cause forgrief ?
Is this thy sorrow now,
She in eternal beauty may no t bowThy troubles t o effaceAs in Old time a head with gentle graceAll tenderly laid by thineTaught thee the nearness ofthe love divine.Her joys no more for th eeThan the impartial laughter of the sea,
276
t i er b eaut y no more fairFor thee alone, but starry, everywhere.Her pity dropped for youNo more than heaven above with healing
dewFavours one home of menAh grieve not she becomes herself again
,
And passed beyond thy sightShe roams along the thought-swept fields oflight,
Moving in dreams untilShe finds again t he root of ancient will,The old heroic loveThat emptied once the heavenly courts above.The angels heard from earthA mournful cry which shattered all their
mirth ,Raised by a senseless routWarring in chaos with discordant shout
,
And that the pain might ceaseThey grew rebellious in the Master’s peaceAnd falling downward thenThe angelic lights were crucified in menLeaving so radiant spheresFor earth’s dim twilight ever wet with tearsThat through those shadows dimMight breathe the lovely music brought fromHim.
And nowmy grief I seeWas but that ancient shadow part ofme,
ENDURANCE
HE bent above so still her breathWhat air she breathed he could not say
,
Whether in worlds of life or deathSO softly ebbed away
,away
,
The life t hat had been light t o him,
So fled her beauty leaving dimThe emptying chambers of his heartThrilled only by the pang and smart,The dull and throbbing agonyThat suffers still
,yet knows not why.
Love’s immortality so blindDreams that all things with it conjoinedMust share with it immortal dayBut not ofthis— but not of th isThe touch
,the eyes
,the laugh, the kiss,
Fall from it and it goes its way.
So blind he wept above her clay,! I did not think that you could die.Only some veil would cover youOur loving eyes could still pierce throughAnd see through dusky shadows stillMove as of old your wild sweet will,
279
280 ENDURANCE
Impatient every heart to winAnd flash its heavenly radiance in .
Though all the worlds were sunk in restThe ruddy star within h is breastWould croon its tale of ancient pain,Its sorrow that would never wane,It s memory of the days ofyoreMou lded in beauty evermore.Ah
,immortality so blind,
To dream all things with it conjoinedMust follow it from star to starAnd share with it immort al years.The memory
,yearning
,grief
,and tears
,
Fall from it and it goes afar .He walked at night along the sands
,
He saw t he stars dance overhead,
He had no memory of the dead,
Bu t lifted up exult ant handsTO hail the fu t ure like a boy,The myriad paths h is feet might press.Unhaunt ed by old tendernessHe felt an inner secret joyA spirit of unfettered willThrough light and darkness moving StillWithin the All to find its own
,
To be imm ortal and alone.
DESTINY
LIKE winds or waters were her waysThe flowing tides
,the airy st reams
,
Are troubled not by any dreamsThey know the circle of their days .
Like winds or waters were her waysThey heed no t immemorial criesThey move to their high destiniesBeyond the little voice that prays.
She passed into her secret goal,And left behind a soul that trodIn darkness
,k nowing not of God,
But craving sister sou l .
281
TRANSFORMATIONS
WHAT miracle was it that made this greyRathgar
Seem holy earth , a leaping—place from star tostar
I know I strode along grey streets disconsolate,
Se eing nowhere a glimmer of the GlitteringGate ,
My vision baffled amid many dreams,for
stillThe airy walls rose up in fabulous hill on
The stars were fortresses upon the dizzyslope
And one and all were unassailable by hope.And then I turned and looked beyond high
TerenureWhere the last jewel breath Of twilight
floated pure ,A s if god Angus there, with his enchanted
1 re,Sat swhying his bright body and hair of misty
fire,283
284 TRANSFORMATIONS
And smote the slumber —string Within theheavenly house
That eve might lay upon the earth her tenderbrows
,
Her moth-dim tresses,and l ip ’s invisible
bloom,
And eye’s light shadowed under eyelids of
the gloom ,
Till all that dark divine pu re being, breast tobreast
,
Lay cool upon the sleepy isle from east towest.
Then I took thought remembering many afamous tale
Told of those heavenly adventurers theGael
,
Ere t o a far-brought alien worship theyinclined
,
A nd that it s sorceries had left them shornand blind
Crownless and sceptreless,while yet their
magic mightCould bow the lordly pillars of the day andnight
,
And topple in one golden wreckage stars andsun ,
TRANSFORMATIONS 2 85
The lofty god-uplifted cities that flash on
hi hDense with the silver-radiant deities of sky
,
And t he gay populace that under ocean bideUnknowing of the flowing of the ponderous
t ide,
And worlds Where T ime is full,where all
with one accordTurn the flushed beauty Of their faces t o the
LordWhere t he
’
! last ecstasy lights up each hill andglade
And love is not remembered between manand m aid,
For lips laugh there at beauty the heartimagineth
,
And feet dance there at the holy Bridal ofLove and Death.
And as,with heart upborne and speedier
footsteps, IStrode on my way, that twilight—burnished
sk
Seemed to heave up as from a mystic fountainthrown.
And world on world those magic voyagers hadknown
TRAGEDY
A MAN went forth one day at eveThe long day’s toil for him was doneThe eye that scanned the page could leaveIts task until to—morrow’s sun.
Upon the threshold where he stoodFlared on h is tired eyes the sight
,
Where host on host the multitudeBurned fiercely in the dusky night.
The starry l ights at play— at playThe giant children of the blue
,
Heaped scorn upon h is trembling clayAnd with their laughter pierced him through .
They seemed t o say in scorn ofhimThe power we have was once in thee.King
,is thy spirit grown so dim
,
That thou art slave and we are free
A s out ofhim the power— the powerThe free— the fearless
,whirled in play
,
He knew himself that bitter hourThe close ofall h is royal day.
287
288 TRAGEDY
And from stars’ exultant danceWithin the fiery furnace glow
,
Exile Of all the vast expanse,He turned him homeward sick and
THE EVERLASTING BATTLE
WH EN in my shadowy hours I pierce thehidden heart of hopes and fears
,
They change into immortal joys or end inimmemorial tears .
Moyt ura’
s battle still endures and in thishuman heart Of mine
The golden sun powers with the might ofdemon darkness intertwine.
I think that every teardrop shed still flowsfrom Balor’s eye of doom ,
And gazing on his ageless grief my heart isfilled with ageless gloom
I close my ever-weary eyes and in my bitterspirit brood
And am at one in vast despair with all thedemon multitude.
But. in t he lightning flash of hope I feel thesungod’s fiery sling
Has smote the horror in the heart whereclouds of demon glooms take wing,
289 U
IN MEMORIAM
POOR little child,my pretty boy
,
Why did t he hunter mark thee ou tWert thou betrayed by thine own joySingled through Childhood’s merry shout
And who on such a gentle thingLet slip the Hound that none may bar
,
That shall o ’
ertake the swiftest wingAnd tear the heavens down star by star
And borne away unto the night,What comfort in the vasty hallCan That which towers from depth to heightMelt in Its mood majestical
,
And laugh with thee as child t o childOr shall t h e gay light in thine eyesDrop stricken there before the piledImmutable immensities
Or shall the Heavenly Wizard turnThy frailty to might in Him,
And make my laughing elf to burnComrade of crested Cherubim ?
29 1
29 2 IN MEMORIAM
The obscure vale emits no sound,NO sight
,the chase has hurried far
The ! uarry and the phantom Hound,Where are they now Beyond what star
MOMENTARY
T HE sweetest song was ever sungMay soothe you bu t a little while
The gayest music ever rungShall yield you but a fleeting smile.
The well I digged you soon Shall passYou may but rest with me an hour
Yet drink,I Offer you the glass,
A moment ofsustaining power,
And give t o you ,if it be gain
,
Whether in pleasure or annoy,
To see one elemental pain,l ight ofeverlasting j oy.
293
UNITY
At last, at last, t he m eaning caughtThe spirit wears its diademIt shakes its wondrous plumes of t houghtAnd trails the stars along with them.
CONTENT
WHO are exiles As for meWhere beneath the diamond domeLies the light on hill or tree,There my palace is and home.
Who are lonely lacking careHere the winds are living
,press
Close on bosom,lips and hair
Well I know their soft caress.
Sad or fain no more to live ?I have pressed the lips ofpain ;Wit h the kisses lovers give
,
Ransomed ancient joys again.
Captive See what stars give lightIn the hidden heart ofclayAt their radiance dark and brightFades t he dreamy king of day.
Night and day no more eclipseFriendly eyes t hat on us shine
,
Speech from O ld familiar lipsPlaymates of a youth divine.
296
CONTENT
Come away,0
,come away
We will quench the heart’s desirePast gateways of the dayIn the rapture ofthe fire.
EPILOGUE
WELL,when all is said and done
B est within my narrow way ,
M ay some angel ofthe sunM use memorial o
’
er my clay
Here was beauty all betrayed
From thefreedom ofher state
From her human uses s tayed
O n an idle rhyme to wait .
Ah , what deep despair migh t move
Ifthe beauty lit a smile,
O r the heart was warm wit h love
That was pondering the while.
He has built his monument
hl/ ith the winds of time at strife,t o could have before he wentWritten on the book ofli e.
To the starsfrom which he cameEmp ty handed, he goes home ;He who migh t have wrough t inflameO nly traced up on thefoam.
”
29 9
NOTE
A s the mythological references made in a
few poems may partially Obscure t he meaningfor those unacquainted with Celtic tradition
,I
have appended here a brief commentary onthe names ment ioned.
dngus, t he C elt ic Eros. In t he bardic st ories heis described as a tall
, golden -haired you t h
playing on a harp and surrounded by singingbirds. T he kisses of t hese birds brough t loveand aft er t hat deat h .
B alor,t he prince Of t h e dark powers . His eye
t urned every living t h ing it rest ed on int oS t one. He was killed at t h e bat t le ofMoyt ura
by Lu t he Sun-god.
D ana,t he Hibern ian m o t her of t h e gods who were
nam ed from her T uat ha D e Danaan,or t he
Tribes of t he goddess Dana. Th ey are also
som e t imes called t he Sidhe .
Etain,a C elt ic goddess who is t he subj ec t of a
famous s t ory, T h e Wooing of B rain .
”Sh e
301
NOTE 303
Sacred Hazel,t he C elt ic t ree of life. It grew
over C onnla’
s Well,and t he fruit wh ich fell
from it were t he Nu t s OfKnowledge wh ichgive wisdom and inspirat ion. C onnla
’
s Well
is a C elt ic equivalen t of the First Foun t ainofmyst icism. A s an old story stat es
,
! T he
folk of many art s have all drunk from t hat
fountain.”
The three great waves are t he wave ofTo t h,
t he wave ofRury, and t he long, slow, wh it efoam ing wave of C lun a.
”In th e bardic
s tories these t hree mys t ical waves shou t roundt he coast of Ireland in recognit ion of great
kings and heroes.
The Feast of Age, t h e druidic form of t he
myst eries. It was ins t it u ted by Manan anMacLir, and whoever partook of t he feast
became immortal.
THE END