Collected Works (Vol. III)

LIBER TERTIUS VEL LABORIS 199 ALECTO. Hate and fear Leave not for long that bosom. TISIPHONE. Now away ! Back from this night more splendid than our day! MEGZERA. We may not drag him down this chance. ALECTO. Despair Not, O my sisters! TISIPHONE. The next suppliant’s prayer Rejected— MEGAERA. Come, my sisters, we'll be there. HADES. Well, be it so. O wizard, by this strength Thou hast availed in deepest Hell at length. I grant thy prayer. Eurydice be given To the sweet light and pleasant air of heaven ! Even on this wise. With Hermes for a guide Up the dread steeps there followeth thee thy | bride, And thou before them singing. If thou yearn Towards her, if thy purpose change or turn While in these realms; if thou thy face revert ; That shall be hostage unto me for hurt Of further magic: she shall fade and flee A phantom frail throughout Eternity, Driven on my winds, adrift upon my seas ! These are thy favours, and thy duties these. Invoke thou Hermes, and thy lyre restring ! ORPHEUS. This I accept and this shall be, O king ! [Jnvoking HERMES.] O Light in Light! O flashing wings of fire ! The swiftest of the moments of the sea Is unto thee Even as some slow-foot Eternity With limbs that drag and wheels that tire, O subtle-minded flame of amber gyre, It seems a spark of gold Grown purple, and behold ! A flame of gray ! Then the dark night-wings glow With iridescent indigo, Shot with some violet ray ; And all the vision flames across the horizon The millionth of no time—and when we say? Hail !—Thou art gone! The moon is dark beside thy crown; the Sun Seems a pale image of thy body bare ; And for thine hair Flash comets lustrous with the dewfall rare Of tears of that most memorable One, The radiant Queen, the veiléd Paphian. The wings of light divine Beneath thy body shine ; The invisible Rayed with some tangible flame, Seeking to formulate a name, A citadel ; And the winged heels are fiery with enormous speed, One spurning heaven ; the other tramp- ling hell; And thou—recede ! O Hermes! Messenger of inmost thought ! Descend! Abide! Swift coursing in my velns Shoot dazzling pains, The Word of Selfhood integrate of Nought, The Ineffable Amen ! the Wonder wrought. Bring death if life exceed ! Bid thy pale Hermit bleed, Yet Life exude; And Wisdom and the Word of Him