Collected Works (Vol. III)

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.