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Page 1 of 11901 · PDF PAGE 87
THE GATE OF THE SANCTUARY. 75 I, his best sword, must fall, in earnest fight. The old despair was coward—he was right. Now, king, I pay your debt. A purple stain Hides his laced throat—I sober at the sight. “ King, you are touched ! ” “ Fight on, Earl Lecherer ! ” I cursed him to his face—the added spur Sticks venom in my lunge—a sudden thrust ! No cry, no gasp ; but he is in the dust, Stark dead. The queen—I hate the name of her ! So grew the mustard-seed, one moment’s lust. I too was wounded : shameful runs the song. She nursed me through tha…
1901 · PDF PAGE 71
THE GATE OF THE SANCTUARY. 59 THE NAMELESS QUEST. HE king was silent. In the blazoned hall Shadows, more mute than at a funeral True mourners, waited, waited in the gloom ; Waited to hear what child was in the womb Of his high thoughts. As dead men were we all ; As dead men wait the trumpet in the tomb. The king was silent. Tense the high-strung air Must save itself by trembling—if it dare. Then a long shudder ran across the space ; Each man ashamed to see his fellow’s face, Each troubled and confused. He did not spare Our fear—he spake not yet…
1901 · PDF PAGE 85
…ne moment, and I should have passed beyond Linked unto Spirit by the fourfold bond. Not dead to earth, but living as divine, A priest, a king, an oracle, a shrine, A saviour ! Yet my misty spirit conned The secret murmur : “ Gereth, I am thine ! ” I must have listened to the voice of hell. The earthly horror wove its serpent spell Against the Beauty of the World : I heard Desolate voices cry the doleful word “ Unready ! ” All the soul invisible Of that vast desert echoed, and concurred. The voices died in mystery away. I passed, confounded, lif…
1901 · PDF PAGE 75
THE GATE OF THE SANCTUARY. 63 Thou mayst win the quest—the king, thy friend, Gives thee his sword to keep thee—Gereth, kneel ! “ I dub thee Earl ; arise ! ” And then there rings The queen’s voice : “ Shall my love not match the king’s ? Here, from my finger drawn, this gem of power Shall guard thee in some unimagined hour. It hath strange virtue over mortal things. I freely give it for thy stirrup’s dower. ” I left the presence. Now the buffeting wind Gladdens my face—I leave the court behind. Am I Stark mad ? My face grows grim and grave ; I s…
1901 · PDF PAGE 103
…is voice out-shrilled the storm. Behind him all the Furies whirl and all the Harpies swarm. The first face spake and said : “ Welcome, O King, art thou ! Await thy throne a thousand dead ; A crown awaits thy brow, A seven-sting scorpion ; for thy rod thou hast a bauble now.” The next face spake and said : “ Welcome, O Priest, to me ! I
1901 · PDF PAGE 112
…escent air— New buds, young birds, so happy in the rare Fresh life of earth : myself am bound to sing, Feeling the resurrection crown me king. I am so happy as men never were. Of sorrow much, of suffering a share, Leave me unmoved, or leave me conquering. O miserable ! that it should be so ! Lord Jesus, Sufferer for the sins of man, Thou didst invite me to Thy shame and loss. And I am happy ! Pity me ! Bestow The right to work in the eternal Plan, The right to hang on the eternal Cross ! I
1901 · PDF PAGE 40
…hut eyes hope to bring From out the fiery circle one divine Blossom of rose, as from a poisonous mine Gold comes to gird the palace of a king. Envious I sprang—and found the last rose gone. So in the fiery ring of wedlock, blind, Mad, one may leap, no rose perhaps to find (Or, if no rose, good fortune finds no thorn), But—mark the difference—palpable and plain Rose or no rose, one leaps not out again. I
1901 · PDF PAGE 21
THE COURT OF THE PROFANE. 9 TO RICHARD WAGNER. (BEFORE HEARING “ SIEGFRIED.”) MASTER of the ring of love, O lord Of all desires, and king of all the stars, O strong magician, who with locks and bars Dost seal that kingdom silent and abhorred That stretches out and binds with iron cord The hopes and lives of men, and makes and mars ! O thou thrice noble for the deadly scars That answered vainly thy victorious sword ! Wagner ! creator of a world of light As beautiful as God’s, bend down to me, And whisper me the secrets of thy heart, That I may f…
1901 · PDF PAGE 117
… Where lurks some serpent-eyed Fear, passion, or man’s deadly wife Desire, the suicide ! Before me dwells the Holy One Anointed Beauty’s King ; Behind me, mightier than the Sun, To whom the cherubs sing, A strong archangel, known of none, Comes crowned and conquering. An angel stands on my right hand With strength of ocean’s wrath ; Upon my left the fiery brand, Charioted fire smites forth : Four great archangels to withstand The furies of the path.
1901 · PDF PAGE 31
… sands, With fervour filled, to say God’s doom To Ahab of the bloody hands, The spoiler of his father’s tomb, The slayer of the vineyard king. God’s judgment, and his fate, I bring. The city gleams afar, I see Samarina’s white walls on high ;
1901 · PDF PAGE 32
…air ; The dog-star gleams, a devilish light : I thought I saw behind me glare The eyes of fiends ; I thought I heard An evil laugh, a mocking word. The gates swing open at The Name, Without a warder roused from sleep ; I pass, with face of burning flame, That is not quenched, although I weep. (For even my tears are tears of fire, For loathing, madness, and desire.) Ah God ! the traps for fervent feet ! The morrow beaconed, and I came By where the golden groves of wheat In summer glories fiercely flame ; To those white courts, by princes trod, W…
1901 · PDF PAGE 72
…h thine arm. I reached the ridge, And saw the river and the ghastly bridge I told you of. Even then, even there, I fled. Nor knight, nor king—a miserable midge ! “ Yet from my shame I dare not turn and run. My oath grows urgent as my days are done. Almost mine hour is on me : for its sake I tell you this, as if my heart should break, The infinite desire—a burning sun. The listening fear—the sun-devouring snake ! ”
1901 · PDF PAGE 73
THE GATE OF THE SANCTUARY. 61 The king was silent. None of us would stir. I sat, struck dumb, a living sepulchre. For—hear me ! in my heart this thing became My sacrament, my pentecostal flame. And with it grew a fear—a fear of Her. What Her ? Shame had not found itself a name. Simply I knew it in myself. I brood Ten years—so seemed it—O ! the bitter food In my mouth nauseate ! In the silent hall One might have heard God’s sparrow in its fall. But I was lost in mine own solitude— I should not hear Mikhael’s trumpet-call. Yet there did grow a cl…
1901 · PDF PAGE 77
…terrors never sung. I swim with sorrow bursting at my breast. Yet I am cleansed, and find some little rest. Still from my agonised unspeaking tongue Breaks : I must go, go onward to the quest. Again the cursed cry : “ What quest is this ? Is it worth heaven in thy lover’s kiss ? A queen, a queen, to kiss and never tire ! Thy queen, quick-breathing for your twin desire ! ” I shudder, for the mystery of bliss ; I go, heart crying and a soul on fire ! “ Resolve all question by a moonward tread. Follow the moon ! ” Even so the king had said.
1901 · PDF PAGE 74
…eper than heaven, tameless as the fire. All catch the fear—the fear of Her—as well, And dare not—even afraid, I must aspire. A spirit walking in a dream, I went To the high throne—they shook the firmament With foolish cheers. I knelt before the queen And wept in silence. Then, as it had been An angel’s voice and touch, her face she bent, Lifted and kissed me—oh ! her lips were keen ! Her voice was softer than a virgin’s eyes : “ Go ! my true knight : for thither, thither lies The only road for thee ; thou hast a prayer Wafted each hour—my spiri…
1901 · PDF PAGE 47
…rds did get, “ And took the poor man’s lamb.” Thou art the man ! Our love must lie beneath thy bitter ban ! Thou petty, envious God ! My king, be sure His brute force shall not to the end endure ; Some stronger soul than thine shall wrest his crown And thrust him from his own high heaven down To some obscure forgetful hell. For me Forsake thy hopes in him. We worship, we, Rather the dear delights we know and hold ; The first cool kiss, within the water cold