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… 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 follow and dispel the night, And fight life through, a comrade unto thee, Under Love’s banner with the sword of Art ! O
24 THE SOUL OF OSIRIS. PART II. KNOW. When Ramoth-Gilead’s field Grew bloody with hot ranks of dead, I smote amain with sword and shield, My brows with mingled blood were red ; And on my cheek the kiss of hell, The hatred of my Jezebel. I waited many days. At last The rushing of a chariot grew Frightful through all the city vast, Men were afraid. But I—I knew Jehu was here, whose sword should dip Deep in my love’s adulterous lip. The spirit filled me. And behold ! I saw her dead stare to the skies ; I came to her ; she was not cold, But burning…
…enger lightning. Swiftly whirled, It flings in circles closing serpent-like On the abominable devil-horde I summon to the mastery of the sword. In my white palace, where the flashing dawn Leaps from the girdling bastions, where the light Flames from the talisman as if a fawn Glode through the thickets, where the soul, withdrawn From every element, gleams through the night Into that darkness palpable, where They Lurk from the torment of the light of day. Swings the swift sword in paths of vivid blue ; Rings the sharp summons in the halls of fear…
…wn Her, O crown Her with stars as with flowers for a virginal gaud ! Crown Her, O crown Her with Light and the flame of the down-rushing Sword ! Crown Her, O crown Her with Love for maiden and mother and wife ! Hail unto Isis ! Hail ! For She is the Lady of Life ! Isis crowned !
…, with her lips is met ; My lips, that murmur in the morn, With lustrous dew are wet. My prayer is mighty with my will ; My purpose as a sword Flames through the adamant, to fill The gardens of the Lord With music, that the air be still, Dumb to its mighty chord. I stand above the tides of time And elemental strife ; T
…d dried, And all my body crucified. Ofttimes the Spirit of the Lord Descends and floods me with his breath ; My words are fashioned as a sword, My voice is like the voice of death. The thunder of the Spirit’s wings Brings terror to the hearts of kings. A
…g the first. I conquered self, I grew at last A prophet chosen of the Lord ; I blew the trumpet’s iron blast That called on Zimri Omri’s sword ; My voice inflamed the fiery steel That was to smite upon Jezreel. And now, I haste from yonder 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 ;
THE COURT OF THE PROFANE. 41 My way was more swift than a bow That flings out its barb to the night : My sword struck the infinite blow That smote him, and blackened the flow Of the amorous river of light. I plunged in the stream, and I drew My queen from the clasp of the water ; I crowned her with roses and blue, With yellow and lilies anew ; I called her my love and God’s daughter ! I gave her a sceptre of may, I gave her a girdle of green, I drew her to music and day, I led her the beautiful way To the land where the Winds lie between. So st…
…ayer, and then—what bitter fight Flames at the end beyond the darkling goal ? These are my passions that my feet must tread ; This is my sword, the fervour of my soul ; This is my Will, the crown upon my head. For see ! the darkness beckons : I have gone, Before this terrible hour, towards the gloom, Braved the wild dragon, called the tiger on With whirling cries of pride, sought out the tomb Where lurking vampires battened, and my steel Has wrought its splendour through the gates of death. My courage did not falter : now I feel My heart beat w…
…f infinite white fire ! O cross of sacrifice made bitter-sweet ! O wide-wing, star-brow, veritable lord ! O mystic bearer of the flaming sword ! O brows half see, O visionary star Seen in the fragrant breezes of the East ! O lover of my love, O avatar Of the All-One, O mystical High Priest ! O thou before whose eyes my weak eyes fail, Wonderful warden of the Holy Grail ! O thou, mine angel, whom these eyes have seen, These hands have handled, and this mouth has kissed ! O thou, the very tongue of fire, the clean Sweet-scented presence of a holi…
…d ran deep To build red roses in the land of Sleep. O guardian of the pallid hours of night ! O tireless watcher of the smitten noon ! O sworded with the majesty of light, O girded with the glory of the moon ! Angel of absolute splendour ! Link of mine Old weary spirit with the All-Divine ! Ship that shalt carry me by many winds Driven on the limitless ocean ! Mighty sword, By which I force that barrier of the mind’s Miscomprehension of its own true lord ! Listen, and answer, and behold my brow Fiery with hope ! Bend down, and touch it now ! Pr…
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…
…ay ! That death were twilight, and the gate of Day ! No death ye bring as his, that grips the flag In desperate fingers, and with bloody sword Flames up the thundering breach, while bastioned crag, Glacis, and pent-house belch their monstrous horde Of hideous engines shattering—this strife Clears the straight road of Glory and of Life ! Nay : but the hateful death that stings the soul Into rebellion ; the insensate death That chokes its own delight with words that roll Mightier-mouthed than the archangel’s breath ; The death that murders courag…
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…
… thought : another cry began. “ Gereth the dauntless ! Gereth of the Sea ! Gereth the loyal ! Child of royalty ! Witch-mothered Gereth ! Sword above the strong, Heart pure, head many-wiled ! ” The knightly throng Clamour my name, and flattering words, to me— If they may ’scape the quest—I do them wrong ; They are my friends—Yet something terrible Rings in the manly music that they swell.
…ite of that, I knew some deadlier trap Some worm more poisonous would set—mayhap ! I turned—the path ? My horror was complete— A flaming sword across the earthquake gap. I cried aloud to God in my despair. “ The quest of quests ! I seek it, for I dare ! Moonward ! on, moonward ! ” And the full moon shone, A glory for God’s eyes to dwell upon, A path of silver furrowed in the air, A gateway where an angel might have gone. And forward gleamed a narrow way of earth Crusted with salt : I watch the fairy birth Of countless flashes on the crystal fla…
…crossed his breast in uttering some prayer : “ I pray you follow of your courtesy, My lord ! ” I followed very bitterly. “ Likes you the sword I gave ? ” I did not dare Answer one word. My soul was hating me. He bade me draw. I silently obeyed. My eye shirked his as blade encountered blade. I was determined he should take my life. “ Went your glance back—encountering my wife ? ” “ Taunt me ! ” I cried ; “ I will not be afraid ! ” My whole soul weary of the coward strife. He seemed to see no opening I gave, But hated me the more. Serene and suav…
…oud of blackness deep as hell, Hearing afar some half-forgotten song As of disruption ; yet strange glories dwell Above my head, as if a sword of light, Rayed of the very Dawn, would strike within The limitations of this deadly night That folds me for the sign of death and sin— O Light ! descend ! My feet move vaguely on In this amazing darkness, in the gloom That I can touch with trembling sense. There shone Once, in my misty memory, in the womb Of some unformulated thought, the flame And smoke of mighty pillars ; yet my mind Is clouded with t…