210
ORPHEUS
Servants of him that cometh forth
At dawn with many-coloured lights
Mounting from underneath the North,
The shrine of the celestial Heights !
He is in me, and] in Him!
Mine is the crystal radiance
That filleth ether to the brim
Wherein all stars and suns may dance.
I am the beautiful and glad,
Rejoicing in the golden day.
I am the spirit silken-clad
That fareth on the fiery way.
I have escaped from Him, whose eyes
Are closed at eventide, and wise
To drag thee to the House of Wrong :—
Iam armed! Iam armed! I am strong!
I am strong !
I make my way: opposing horns
Of secret foemen push their lust
In vain: my song their fury scorns ;
They sink, they grovel in the dust.
Hail, self-created Lord of Night!
Inscrutable and infinite !
Let Orpheus journey forth to see
The Disk in peace and victory!
Let him adore the splendid sight,
The radiance of the Heaven of Nu;
Soar like a bird, laved by the light,
To pierce the far eternal blue !
Hail! Hermes! thou the wands of ill
Hast touched with strength, and they are
shivered!
The way is open unto will!
The pregnant Goddess is delivered !
Happy, yea, happy ! happy is he
That hath looked forth upon the Bier
That goeth to the House of Rest !
His heart is lit with melody ;
Peace in his house is master of fear ;
His holy Name is in the West
‘When the sun sinks, and royal rays
Of moonrise flash across the day’s!
I have risen! I have risen ! as a mighty
hawk of gold !
From the golden egg I gather, and my wings
the world enfold.
I alight in mighty splendour from the thronéd
boats of light;
Companies of Spirits follow me; adore the
Lords of Night.
Yea, with gladness did they pzean, bowing
low before my car,
In my ears their homage echoed from the
sunrise to the star.
I have risen! I am gathered as a lovely
hawk of gold,
I the first-born of the Motherin her ‘ecstasy
of old.
Lo! I come to face the dwellerin the sacred
snake of Khem ;
Come to face the Babe and Lion, come to
measure force with them !
Ah! these locks flow down, a river, as the
earth’s before the Sun,
As the earth’s before the sunset, and the God
and I are One.
I who entered in a Fool, gain the God by
clean endeavour;
I am shaped as men and women, fair for
ever and for ever.
(The MANADS stand silent and quiet.)
ORPHEUS.!
Worship with due rite, orderly attire,
The makers of the world, the floating souls
Whence -fell these crystals we call earth.
Praise Might
The Limitless; praise Pallas,
Wisdom
The One became divided. Praise ye Him,
Chronos, from whom, the third, is form per-
ceived.
Praise ye Poseidon, his productive power,
And Juno, secret nature of all things,
On which all things are builded: praise ye
Love,
by whose
1 The following is paraphrased from one of
the writings (falsely) attributed to Orpheus.