Volume I Part 5 (1/2)
_If the blossoms were beans, I should know what it means-- This blaze, which I certainly cannot endure; It is evil, too, For its colour is blue, And the sense of the matter is quite obscure.
Celestial truth _Is the food of youth; But the music was dark as a moonless night.
The facts in the song Were all of them wrong,_
_And there was not a single sum done right; Tho' a metaphysician amongst the crowd, In a voice that was notably deep and loud, Repeated, as fast as he was able, The whole of the multiplication table._
So the cry flapped off as a wild goose flies, And the stars came out in the trembling skies, And ever the mystic glory grew In the garden of blue chrysanthemums, Till there came a rumble of distant drums; And the mult.i.tude suddenly turned and flew.
... A dead ape lay where their feet had been ...
And we called for the yellow palankeen, And the flowers divided and let us through.
The black-barred moon was large and low When we came to the Forest of Ancient Woe; And over our heads the stars were bright.
But through the forest the path we travelled Its phosph.o.r.escent aisle unravelled In one thin ribbon of dwindling light: And twice and thrice on the fainting track We paused to listen. The moon grew black, But the coolies' faces glimmered white, As the wild woods echoed in dreadful chorus A laugh that came horribly hopping o'er us Like monstrous frogs thro' the murky night.
Then the tall thin man as we swung along Sang us an old enchanted song That lightened our hearts of their fearful load.
But, e'en as the moonlit air grew sweet, We heard the pad of stealthy feet d.o.g.g.i.ng us down the thin white road; And the song grew weary again and harsh, And the black trees dripped like the fringe of a marsh, And a laugh crept out like a shadowy toad; And we knew it was neither ghoul nor djinn: _It was Creeping Sin! It was Creeping Sin!_
But we came to a bend, and the white moon glowed Like a gate at the end of the narrowing road Far away; and on either hand, As guards of a path to the heart's desire, The strange tall blossoms of soft blue fire Stretched away thro' that unknown land, League on league with their dwindling lane Down to the large low moon; and again There s.h.i.+mmered around us that mystical strain, In a tongue that it seemed we could understand.
SONG
_Hold by right and rule by fear Till the slowly broadening sphere Melting through the skies above Merge into the sphere of love._
_Hold by might until you find Might is powerless o'er the mind: Hold by Truth until you see, Though they bow before the wind, Its towers can mock at liberty._
_Time, the seneschal, is blind; Time is blind: and what are we?
Captives of Infinity, Claiming through Truth's prison bars Kins.h.i.+p with the wandering stars._
O, who could tell the wild weird sights We saw in all the days and nights We travelled through those forests old.
We saw the griffons on white cliffs, Among fantastic hieroglyphs, Guarding enormous heaps of gold:
We saw the Ghastroi--curious men Who dwell, like tigers, in a den, And howl whene'er the moon is cold; They stripe themselves with red and black And ride upon the yellow Yak.
Their dens are always ankle-deep With twisted knives, and in their sleep They often cut themselves; they say That if you wish to live in peace The surest way is not to cease Collecting knives; and never a day Can pa.s.s, unless they buy a few; And as their enemies buy them too They all avert the impending fray, And starve their children and their wives To buy the necessary knives.
The forest leapt with shadowy shapes As we came to the great black Tower of Apes: But we gave them purple figs and grapes In alabaster amphoras: We gave them curious kinds of fruit With betel nuts and orris-root, And then they let us pa.s.s: And when we reached the Tower of Snakes We gave them soft white honey-cakes, And warm sweet milk in bowls of bra.s.s: And on the hundredth eve we found The City of the Secret Wound.
We saw the mystic blossoms blow Round the City, far below; Faintly in the sunset glow We saw the soft blue glory flow O'er many a golden garden gate: And o'er the tiny dark green seas Of tamarisks and tulip-trees, Domes like golden oranges Dream aloft elate.
And clearer, clearer as we went, We heard from tower and battlement A whisper, like a warning, sent From watchers out of sight; And clearer, brighter, as we drew Close to the walls, we saw the blue Flas.h.i.+ng of plumes where peac.o.c.ks flew Thro' zones of pearly light.
On either side, a fat black bonze Guarded the gates of red-wrought bronze, Blazoned with blue sea-dragons And mouths of yawning flame; Down the road of dusty red, Though their brown feet ached and bled, Our coolies went with joyful tread: Like living fans the gates outspread And opened as we came.
PART III
THE MYSTIC RUBY
The white moon dawned; the sunset died; And stars were trembling when we spied The rose-red temple of our dreams: Its lamp-lit gardens glimmered cool With many an onyx-paven pool, Amid soft sounds of flowing streams; Where star-s.h.i.+ne s.h.i.+mmered through the white Tall fountain-shafts of crystal light In ever changing rainbow-gleams.
Priests in flowing yellow robes Glided under rosy globes Through the green pomegranate boughs Moonbeams poured their coloured rain; Roofs of sea-green porcelain Jutted o'er the rose-red house; Bells were hung beneath its eaves; Every wind that stirred the leaves Tinkled as tired water does.