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…, whom we mistrusted long, We perceive to be a friend : Man at last with flower and tree, Bird and butterfly and bee, Earth and fire and air and sea, Will his voice divinely blend In a song, whose holy incense up to Heaven shall ascend And the souls that stand and shiver On the borders of the River, Shall their arms extend Unto Death as to a lover, knowing Death is not the End.
…The queen clapped dainty hands, caressed of dew, And bade the love-lorn wanderer sing anew. His muse came trembling, soon through starry air it flew. SONG OF CHARICLES Within the forest gloom There lies a lovers bower, A lotus-flower In bloom.
…e gods, And the seasons periods To Eternity, the ocean flooded with the river, Light Ouranos ! Wave wide thy pinions Azure in the azure air, Over the serene dominions That our love has made so fair : Hark, O Heaven ! Hail thy sister, Earth, ex- panding everywhere With the blossom of Gods smile. Hark, old Ouranos, awhile To the music welling up From the sea of molten glass,
… birth ; And like the sea by limits of pale sand Be utterly confined ; but so He planned To vivify the body with the soul, That fire and air were wedded to control The heavy bulk beneath them, so His breath Touched the warm clay and violated death, Gave to the spirit wings and bade it rise To seek its Maker with aspiring eyes, Gave to the body strength to hold awhile The spirit, till the passions that defile Should waste and wither, and the free soul soar. But evil lusted with the soul, and bore A thousand children deadlier than death ; The sin…
…hile I consider our war on Fate. Till then, and I will tell thee everything That thou must do ; but now let song take wing Till the pale air swoon with the deep delight That makes cool noontide from the sultry night. What are your dreams, my maidens ? Your young dreams ? Are they of passion, or of rocks and streams, Of purple mountains, clad about with green, Or do their lamps grow dim in the unseen ? Sing to this hero ; sing, lure slumber to your queen.
…loods In all the world, nor had she knowledge of Such dens as him concealed ; (for what should Love Know of such vile morasses ?) in despair Waved angry wings, and, floating through the air, Came unto Aphaca, lewd citadel Of strange new lusts and devilries of hell, Where god Priapus dwelt ; to him she came— She, Love !—and, hiding her fair face for shame, Nor showing aught the quivering scorn that glowed Through all her body, her desire showed In brief sharp words, and the lewd god gave ear (For he shook terribly with bastard fear
…now (Most just Unpitying Zeus !) condemned with her, I must The hated semblance of a serpent wear When noon rides forth upon the crystal air. While yet she spake, the dwindling shadow ran Beneath the feet of Charicles, the wan Waste water glinted free, and to the deep Cool pebbles did the kiss of sunshine creep ; The busy lark forgot for joy to sing, And all the woods with fairy voices ring ; The hills in dreamy langour seem to swoon Through the blue haze ! behold, the hour of noon ! And lo ! there came to pass the dreadful fate Her lips had …
…t of eye The chaste abandon of the sleeping maid, But looked upon her lips, checked course, and stayed, And noted all the virginal fresh air Of Charicles, the maiden head half bare To Phoibos kiss, half veiled by dimpled arms Within whose love it rested, all her charms Half-shown, half-hidden, amorous but chaste. And so, between the branches interlaced And all the purple white-starred undergrowth, Zeus crept beside the maid, little loath To waken her caresses, and let noon Fade into midnight in the amorous swoon
… 57 And with meet words of gratitude the dame That rules our lives withdrew, triumphant flame Kindling in her bright eyes and sunwarmed hair, Burning in dawny cheeks as the fresh air Kissed, cleansing them from that infested den Of obscene deities and apish men, Rivalling their gods in petty filthiness. So Loves white-bosomed Queen gat full success In the first season of her sojourning. Then, on the verge of night, she went a-wing To that most damnèd pestilence-rid marsh, And, changing her bright shape, she donned the harsh Vile form of woman …
72 THE TALE OF ARCHAIS Through the noons haze the world was vast and dim ; The streams and trees and air were shimmering With summer heat and earths cool vapouring, When, round his limbs entwined, a fiery snake Hissed in his frightened ear the call Awake. And Zeus arisen strives vainly to release His valiant body from the coils, nor cease His angry struggles in their cruel hold. But all implacable, unyielding, cold, Their sinuous pressure on his breast and thighs, The white teeth sharp and ready otherwise In one fierce snap to slay. There …
…but I — Yea, verily, fear not But stratagem may lift thy bitter lot From thy worn shoulders. Thus for half the day Thou art as free as air, as woodland fay Treading the circle of unearthly green, By maiden eyes at summer midnight seen. These hours of freedom thy mayst use to free Love from his toils, and joy and goodly gree Shall be thy guerdon. Listen ! I have power To change thy semblance in thy happier hour ; Thou shall assume the countenance of Loves Divinest maiden in the darkling groves Of Ida. There shall thou meet happily With Zeus …
…rk Her flight ; she was not there, the silver spark Had flashed and faded ; all the field was bare, No wave of wing bestirred the sultry air, Save only where the noontide lark rose high To chant his liberty. The vaulted sky Was one blue cupola of rare turquoise That shimmered with the heat. His pulses pause
52 THE TALE OF ARCHAIS Fair children in a world diviner far Than that unspeakable desirous star Like a blue diamond flaming in the void, Jewelled with satellite and asteroid, Where our desire is welcome. Yea, the night Holds in her bosom such a world of light As in this sick sad Earth would consume man With its quick blaze of truth. Thy bitter ban, Zeus, shall most utterly be made to cease. We must fight Fate and conquer it. Our peace, Our passion, is the silent answer given To the importunate questioning of heaven. Thou art supreme, my king, a…
…bright and burning, his lips clave— A sudden cry broke from him ; from the height His swift young body, like a ray of light, Divides the air, a moment, and the pool Flings up the spray like dew, divinely cool : A moment, and he flashed towards her side And caught her trembling, as a tender bride At the first kiss ; he caught her, and compelled Her answer, in his arms securely held. And she no word might say, her red lips quailed,
…th glistening scales that golden skin of hers, And writhing with pure shame, the long grass whirrs With her sharp flight of fury and despair. Then Charicles at last became aware Of the fell death that had him by the throat To mar his music ; like one blind he smote The quivering air with cries of sorrow ; then, Disdaining fear and sorrow, cried to men And gods to help him ; then, resolved to dare All wrath and justice, he rose up to swear ; Lifting his right hand to the sky, that glowed Deadly vermilion, like the poisonous toad That darts an an…
…, behold, Chance leant from Heaven with feet and face of gold, And hid the iron of her body bare With such warm cloudlets as the morning air