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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4696.txt b/4696.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..90df6e5 --- /dev/null +++ b/4696.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1262 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Witch of Atlas, by Percy Bysshe Shelley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Witch of Atlas + +Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley + +Posting Date: August 24, 2009 [EBook #4696] +Release Date: November, 2003 +First Posted: March 3, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WITCH OF ATLAS *** + + + + +Produced by Sue Asscher + + + + + + + + + +The Witch of Atlas + + +by + +Percy Bysshe Shelley + + + + + + TO MARY + (ON HER OBJECTING TO THE FOLLOWING POEM, UPON THE + SCORE OF ITS CONTAINING NO HUMAN INTEREST). + + 1. + How, my dear Mary,--are you critic-bitten + (For vipers kill, though dead) by some review, + That you condemn these verses I have written, + Because they tell no story, false or true? + What, though no mice are caught by a young kitten, _5 + May it not leap and play as grown cats do, + Till its claws come? Prithee, for this one time, + Content thee with a visionary rhyme. + + 2. + What hand would crush the silken-winged fly, + The youngest of inconstant April's minions, _10 + Because it cannot climb the purest sky, + Where the swan sings, amid the sun's dominions? + Not thine. Thou knowest 'tis its doom to die, + When Day shall hide within her twilight pinions + The lucent eyes, and the eternal smile, _15 + Serene as thine, which lent it life awhile. + + 3. + To thy fair feet a winged Vision came, + Whose date should have been longer than a day, + And o'er thy head did beat its wings for fame, + And in thy sight its fading plumes display; _20 + The watery bow burned in the evening flame. + But the shower fell, the swift Sun went his way-- + And that is dead.--O, let me not believe + That anything of mine is fit to live! + + 4. + Wordsworth informs us he was nineteen years _25 + Considering and retouching Peter Bell; + Watering his laurels with the killing tears + Of slow, dull care, so that their roots to Hell + Might pierce, and their wide branches blot the spheres + Of Heaven, with dewy leaves and flowers; this well _30 + May be, for Heaven and Earth conspire to foil + The over-busy gardener's blundering toil. + + 5. + My Witch indeed is not so sweet a creature + As Ruth or Lucy, whom his graceful praise + Clothes for our grandsons--but she matches Peter, _35 + Though he took nineteen years, and she three days + In dressing. Light the vest of flowing metre + She wears; he, proud as dandy with his stays, + Has hung upon his wiry limbs a dress + Like King Lear's 'looped and windowed raggedness.' _40 + + 6. + If you strip Peter, you will see a fellow + Scorched by Hell's hyperequatorial climate + Into a kind of a sulphureous yellow: + A lean mark, hardly fit to fling a rhyme at; + In shape a Scaramouch, in hue Othello. _45 + If you unveil my Witch, no priest nor primate + Can shrive you of that sin,--if sin there be + In love, when it becomes idolatry. + + + THE WITCH OF ATLAS. + + 1. + Before those cruel Twins, whom at one birth + Incestuous Change bore to her father Time, _50 + Error and Truth, had hunted from the Earth + All those bright natures which adorned its prime, + And left us nothing to believe in, worth + The pains of putting into learned rhyme, + A lady-witch there lived on Atlas' mountain _55 + Within a cavern, by a secret fountain. + + 2. + Her mother was one of the Atlantides: + The all-beholding Sun had ne'er beholden + In his wide voyage o'er continents and seas + So fair a creature, as she lay enfolden _60 + In the warm shadow of her loveliness;-- + He kissed her with his beams, and made all golden + The chamber of gray rock in which she lay-- + She, in that dream of joy, dissolved away. + + 3. + 'Tis said, she first was changed into a vapour, _65 + And then into a cloud, such clouds as flit, + Like splendour-winged moths about a taper, + Round the red west when the sun dies in it: + And then into a meteor, such as caper + On hill-tops when the moon is in a fit: _70 + Then, into one of those mysterious stars + Which hide themselves between the Earth and Mars. + + 4. + Ten times the Mother of the Months had bent + Her bow beside the folding-star, and bidden + With that bright sign the billows to indent _75 + The sea-deserted sand--like children chidden, + At her command they ever came and went-- + Since in that cave a dewy splendour hidden + Took shape and motion: with the living form + Of this embodied Power, the cave grew warm. _80 + + 5. + A lovely lady garmented in light + From her own beauty--deep her eyes, as are + Two openings of unfathomable night + Seen through a Temple's cloven roof--her hair + Dark--the dim brain whirls dizzy with delight. _85 + Picturing her form; her soft smiles shone afar, + And her low voice was heard like love, and drew + All living things towards this wonder new. + + 6. + And first the spotted cameleopard came, + And then the wise and fearless elephant; _90 + Then the sly serpent, in the golden flame + Of his own volumes intervolved;--all gaunt + And sanguine beasts her gentle looks made tame. + They drank before her at her sacred fount; + And every beast of beating heart grew bold, _95 + Such gentleness and power even to behold. + + 7. + The brinded lioness led forth her young, + That she might teach them how they should forego + Their inborn thirst of death; the pard unstrung + His sinews at her feet, and sought to know _100 + With looks whose motions spoke without a tongue + How he might be as gentle as the doe. + The magic circle of her voice and eyes + All savage natures did imparadise. + + 8. + And old Silenus, shaking a green stick _105 + Of lilies, and the wood-gods in a crew + Came, blithe, as in the olive copses thick + Cicadae are, drunk with the noonday dew: + And Dryope and Faunus followed quick, + Teasing the God to sing them something new; _110 + Till in this cave they found the lady lone, + Sitting upon a seat of emerald stone. + + 9. + And universal Pan, 'tis said, was there, + And though none saw him,--through the adamant + Of the deep mountains, through the trackless air, _115 + And through those living spirits, like a want, + He passed out of his everlasting lair + Where the quick heart of the great world doth pant, + And felt that wondrous lady all alone,-- + And she felt him, upon her emerald throne. _120 + + 10. + And every nymph of stream and spreading tree, + And every shepherdess of Ocean's flocks, + Who drives her white waves over the green sea, + And Ocean with the brine on his gray locks, + And quaint Priapus with his company, _125 + All came, much wondering how the enwombed rocks + Could have brought forth so beautiful a birth;-- + Her love subdued their wonder and their mirth. + + 11. + The herdsmen and the mountain maidens came, + And the rude kings of pastoral Garamant-- _130 + Their spirits shook within them, as a flame + Stirred by the air under a cavern gaunt: + Pigmies, and Polyphemes, by many a name, + Centaurs, and Satyrs, and such shapes as haunt + Wet clefts,--and lumps neither alive nor dead, _135 + Dog-headed, bosom-eyed, and bird-footed. + + 12. + For she was beautiful--her beauty made + The bright world dim, and everything beside + Seemed like the fleeting image of a shade: + No thought of living spirit could abide, _140 + Which to her looks had ever been betrayed, + On any object in the world so wide, + On any hope within the circling skies, + But on her form, and in her inmost eyes. + + 13. + Which when the lady knew, she took her spindle _145 + And twined three threads of fleecy mist, and three + Long lines of light, such as the dawn may kindle + The clouds and waves and mountains with; and she + As many star-beams, ere their lamps could dwindle + In the belated moon, wound skilfully; _150 + And with these threads a subtle veil she wove-- + A shadow for the splendour of her love. + + 14. + The deep recesses of her odorous dwelling + Were stored with magic treasures--sounds of air, + Which had the power all spirits of compelling, _155 + Folded in cells of crystal silence there; + Such as we hear in youth, and think the feeling + Will never die--yet ere we are aware, + The feeling and the sound are fled and gone, + And the regret they leave remains alone. _160 + + 15. + And there lay Visions swift, and sweet, and quaint, + Each in its thin sheath, like a chrysalis, + Some eager to burst forth, some weak and faint + With the soft burthen of intensest bliss. + It was its work to bear to many a saint _165 + Whose heart adores the shrine which holiest is, + Even Love's:--and others white, green, gray, and black, + And of all shapes--and each was at her beck. + + 16. + And odours in a kind of aviary + Of ever-blooming Eden-trees she kept, _170 + Clipped in a floating net, a love-sick Fairy + Had woven from dew-beams while the moon yet slept; + As bats at the wired window of a dairy, + They beat their vans; and each was an adept, + When loosed and missioned, making wings of winds, _175 + To stir sweet thoughts or sad, in destined minds. + + 17. + And liquors clear and sweet, whose healthful might + Could medicine the sick soul to happy sleep, + And change eternal death into a night + Of glorious dreams--or if eyes needs must weep, _180 + Could make their tears all wonder and delight, + She in her crystal vials did closely keep: + If men could drink of those clear vials, 'tis said + The living were not envied of the dead. + + 18. + Her cave was stored with scrolls of strange device, _185 + The works of some Saturnian Archimage, + Which taught the expiations at whose price + Men from the Gods might win that happy age + Too lightly lost, redeeming native vice; + And which might quench the Earth-consuming rage _190 + Of gold and blood--till men should live and move + Harmonious as the sacred stars above; + + 19. + And how all things that seem untameable, + Not to be checked and not to be confined, + Obey the spells of Wisdom's wizard skill; _195 + Time, earth, and fire--the ocean and the wind, + And all their shapes--and man's imperial will; + And other scrolls whose writings did unbind + The inmost lore of Love--let the profane + Tremble to ask what secrets they contain. _200 + + 20. + And wondrous works of substances unknown, + To which the enchantment of her father's power + Had changed those ragged blocks of savage stone, + Were heaped in the recesses of her bower; + Carved lamps and chalices, and vials which shone _205 + In their own golden beams--each like a flower, + Out of whose depth a fire-fly shakes his light + Under a cypress in a starless night. + + 21. + At first she lived alone in this wild home, + And her own thoughts were each a minister, _210 + Clothing themselves, or with the ocean foam, + Or with the wind, or with the speed of fire, + To work whatever purposes might come + Into her mind; such power her mighty Sire + Had girt them with, whether to fly or run, _215 + Through all the regions which he shines upon. + + 22. + The Ocean-nymphs and Hamadryades, + Oreads and Naiads, with long weedy locks, + Offered to do her bidding through the seas, + Under the earth, and in the hollow rocks, _220 + And far beneath the matted roots of trees, + And in the gnarled heart of stubborn oaks, + So they might live for ever in the light + Of her sweet presence--each a satellite. + + 23. + 'This may not be,' the wizard maid replied; _225 + 'The fountains where the Naiades bedew + Their shining hair, at length are drained and dried; + The solid oaks forget their strength, and strew + Their latest leaf upon the mountains wide; + The boundless ocean like a drop of dew _230 + Will be consumed--the stubborn centre must + Be scattered, like a cloud of summer dust. + + 24. + 'And ye with them will perish, one by one;-- + If I must sigh to think that this shall be, + If I must weep when the surviving Sun _235 + Shall smile on your decay--oh, ask not me + To love you till your little race is run; + I cannot die as ye must--over me + Your leaves shall glance--the streams in which ye dwell + Shall be my paths henceforth, and so--farewell!'-- _240 + + 25. + She spoke and wept:--the dark and azure well + Sparkled beneath the shower of her bright tears, + And every little circlet where they fell + Flung to the cavern-roof inconstant spheres + And intertangled lines of light:--a knell _245 + Of sobbing voices came upon her ears + From those departing Forms, o'er the serene + Of the white streams and of the forest green. + + 26. + All day the wizard lady sate aloof, + Spelling out scrolls of dread antiquity, _250 + Under the cavern's fountain-lighted roof; + Or broidering the pictured poesy + Of some high tale upon her growing woof, + Which the sweet splendour of her smiles could dye + In hues outshining heaven--and ever she _255 + Added some grace to the wrought poesy. + + 27. + While on her hearth lay blazing many a piece + Of sandal wood, rare gums, and cinnamon; + Men scarcely know how beautiful fire is-- + Each flame of it is as a precious stone _260 + Dissolved in ever-moving light, and this + Belongs to each and all who gaze upon. + The Witch beheld it not, for in her hand + She held a woof that dimmed the burning brand. + + 28. + This lady never slept, but lay in trance _265 + All night within the fountain--as in sleep. + Its emerald crags glowed in her beauty's glance; + Through the green splendour of the water deep + She saw the constellations reel and dance + Like fire-flies--and withal did ever keep _270 + The tenour of her contemplations calm, + With open eyes, closed feet, and folded palm. + + 29. + And when the whirlwinds and the clouds descended + From the white pinnacles of that cold hill, + She passed at dewfall to a space extended, _275 + Where in a lawn of flowering asphodel + Amid a wood of pines and cedars blended, + There yawned an inextinguishable well + Of crimson fire--full even to the brim, + And overflowing all the margin trim. _280 + + 30. + Within the which she lay when the fierce war + Of wintry winds shook that innocuous liquor + In many a mimic moon and bearded star + O'er woods and lawns;--the serpent heard it flicker + In sleep, and dreaming still, he crept afar-- _285 + And when the windless snow descended thicker + Than autumn leaves, she watched it as it came + Melt on the surface of the level flame. + + 31. + She had a boat, which some say Vulcan wrought + For Venus, as the chariot of her star; _290 + But it was found too feeble to be fraught + With all the ardours in that sphere which are, + And so she sold it, and Apollo bought + And gave it to this daughter: from a car + Changed to the fairest and the lightest boat _295 + Which ever upon mortal stream did float. + + 32. + And others say, that, when but three hours old, + The first-born Love out of his cradle lept, + And clove dun Chaos with his wings of gold, + And like a horticultural adept, _300 + Stole a strange seed, and wrapped it up in mould, + And sowed it in his mother's star, and kept + Watering it all the summer with sweet dew, + And with his wings fanning it as it grew. + + 33. + The plant grew strong and green, the snowy flower _305 + Fell, and the long and gourd-like fruit began + To turn the light and dew by inward power + To its own substance; woven tracery ran + Of light firm texture, ribbed and branching, o'er + The solid rind, like a leaf's veined fan-- _310 + Of which Love scooped this boat--and with soft motion + Piloted it round the circumfluous ocean. + + 34. + This boat she moored upon her fount, and lit + A living spirit within all its frame, + Breathing the soul of swiftness into it. _315 + Couched on the fountain like a panther tame, + One of the twain at Evan's feet that sit-- + Or as on Vesta's sceptre a swift flame-- + Or on blind Homer's heart a winged thought,-- + In joyous expectation lay the boat. _320 + + 35. + Then by strange art she kneaded fire and snow + Together, tempering the repugnant mass + With liquid love--all things together grow + Through which the harmony of love can pass; + And a fair Shape out of her hands did flow-- _325 + A living Image, which did far surpass + In beauty that bright shape of vital stone + Which drew the heart out of Pygmalion. + + 36. + A sexless thing it was, and in its growth + It seemed to have developed no defect _330 + Of either sex, yet all the grace of both,-- + In gentleness and strength its limbs were decked; + The bosom swelled lightly with its full youth, + The countenance was such as might select + Some artist that his skill should never die, _335 + Imaging forth such perfect purity. + + 37. + From its smooth shoulders hung two rapid wings, + Fit to have borne it to the seventh sphere, + Tipped with the speed of liquid lightenings, + Dyed in the ardours of the atmosphere: _340 + She led her creature to the boiling springs + Where the light boat was moored, and said: 'Sit here!' + And pointed to the prow, and took her seat + Beside the rudder, with opposing feet. + + 38. + And down the streams which clove those mountains vast, _345 + Around their inland islets, and amid + The panther-peopled forests whose shade cast + Darkness and odours, and a pleasure hid + In melancholy gloom, the pinnace passed; + By many a star-surrounded pyramid _350 + Of icy crag cleaving the purple sky, + And caverns yawning round unfathomably. + + 39. + The silver noon into that winding dell, + With slanted gleam athwart the forest tops, + Tempered like golden evening, feebly fell; _355 + A green and glowing light, like that which drops + From folded lilies in which glow-worms dwell, + When Earth over her face Night's mantle wraps; + Between the severed mountains lay on high, + Over the stream, a narrow rift of sky. _360 + + 40. + And ever as she went, the Image lay + With folded wings and unawakened eyes; + And o'er its gentle countenance did play + The busy dreams, as thick as summer flies, + Chasing the rapid smiles that would not stay, _365 + And drinking the warm tears, and the sweet sighs + Inhaling, which, with busy murmur vain, + They had aroused from that full heart and brain. + + 41. + And ever down the prone vale, like a cloud + Upon a stream of wind, the pinnace went: _370 + Now lingering on the pools, in which abode + The calm and darkness of the deep content + In which they paused; now o'er the shallow road + Of white and dancing waters, all besprent + With sand and polished pebbles:--mortal boat _375 + In such a shallow rapid could not float. + + 42. + And down the earthquaking cataracts which shiver + Their snow-like waters into golden air, + Or under chasms unfathomable ever + Sepulchre them, till in their rage they tear _380 + A subterranean portal for the river, + It fled--the circling sunbows did upbear + Its fall down the hoar precipice of spray, + Lighting it far upon its lampless way. + + 43. + And when the wizard lady would ascend _385 + The labyrinths of some many-winding vale, + Which to the inmost mountain upward tend-- + She called 'Hermaphroditus!'--and the pale + And heavy hue which slumber could extend + Over its lips and eyes, as on the gale _390 + A rapid shadow from a slope of grass, + Into the darkness of the stream did pass. + + 44. + And it unfurled its heaven-coloured pinions, + With stars of fire spotting the stream below; + And from above into the Sun's dominions _395 + Flinging a glory, like the golden glow + In which Spring clothes her emerald-winged minions, + All interwoven with fine feathery snow + And moonlight splendour of intensest rime, + With which frost paints the pines in winter time. _400 + + 45. + And then it winnowed the Elysian air + Which ever hung about that lady bright, + With its aethereal vans--and speeding there, + Like a star up the torrent of the night, + Or a swift eagle in the morning glare _405 + Breasting the whirlwind with impetuous flight, + The pinnace, oared by those enchanted wings, + Clove the fierce streams towards their upper springs. + + 46. + The water flashed, like sunlight by the prow + Of a noon-wandering meteor flung to Heaven; _410 + The still air seemed as if its waves did flow + In tempest down the mountains; loosely driven + The lady's radiant hair streamed to and fro: + Beneath, the billows having vainly striven + Indignant and impetuous, roared to feel _415 + The swift and steady motion of the keel. + + 47. + Or, when the weary moon was in the wane, + Or in the noon of interlunar night, + The lady-witch in visions could not chain + Her spirit; but sailed forth under the light _420 + Of shooting stars, and bade extend amain + Its storm-outspeeding wings, the Hermaphrodite; + She to the Austral waters took her way, + Beyond the fabulous Thamondocana,-- + + 48. + Where, like a meadow which no scythe has shaven, _425 + Which rain could never bend, or whirl-blast shake, + With the Antarctic constellations paven, + Canopus and his crew, lay the Austral lake-- + There she would build herself a windless haven + Out of the clouds whose moving turrets make _430 + The bastions of the storm, when through the sky + The spirits of the tempest thundered by: + + 49. + A haven beneath whose translucent floor + The tremulous stars sparkled unfathomably, + And around which the solid vapours hoar, _435 + Based on the level waters, to the sky + Lifted their dreadful crags, and like a shore + Of wintry mountains, inaccessibly + Hemmed in with rifts and precipices gray, + And hanging crags, many a cove and bay. _440 + + 50. + And whilst the outer lake beneath the lash + Of the wind's scourge, foamed like a wounded thing, + And the incessant hail with stony clash + Ploughed up the waters, and the flagging wing + Of the roused cormorant in the lightning flash _445 + Looked like the wreck of some wind-wandering + Fragment of inky thunder-smoke--this haven + Was as a gem to copy Heaven engraven,-- + + 51. + On which that lady played her many pranks, + Circling the image of a shooting star, _450 + Even as a tiger on Hydaspes' banks + Outspeeds the antelopes which speediest are, + In her light boat; and many quips and cranks + She played upon the water, till the car + Of the late moon, like a sick matron wan, _455 + To journey from the misty east began. + + 52. + And then she called out of the hollow turrets + Of those high clouds, white, golden and vermilion, + The armies of her ministering spirits-- + In mighty legions, million after million, _460 + They came, each troop emblazoning its merits + On meteor flags; and many a proud pavilion + Of the intertexture of the atmosphere + They pitched upon the plain of the calm mere. + + 53. + They framed the imperial tent of their great Queen _465 + Of woven exhalations, underlaid + With lambent lightning-fire, as may be seen + A dome of thin and open ivory inlaid + With crimson silk--cressets from the serene + Hung there, and on the water for her tread _470 + A tapestry of fleece-like mist was strewn, + Dyed in the beams of the ascending moon. + + 54. + And on a throne o'erlaid with starlight, caught + Upon those wandering isles of aery dew, + Which highest shoals of mountain shipwreck not, _475 + She sate, and heard all that had happened new + Between the earth and moon, since they had brought + The last intelligence--and now she grew + Pale as that moon, lost in the watery night-- + And now she wept, and now she laughed outright. _480 + + 55. + These were tame pleasures; she would often climb + The steepest ladder of the crudded rack + Up to some beaked cape of cloud sublime, + And like Arion on the dolphin's back + Ride singing through the shoreless air;--oft-time _485 + Following the serpent lightning's winding track, + She ran upon the platforms of the wind, + And laughed to hear the fire-balls roar behind. + + 56. + And sometimes to those streams of upper air + Which whirl the earth in its diurnal round, _490 + She would ascend, and win the spirits there + To let her join their chorus. Mortals found + That on those days the sky was calm and fair, + And mystic snatches of harmonious sound + Wandered upon the earth where'er she passed, _495 + And happy thoughts of hope, too sweet to last. + + 57. + But her choice sport was, in the hours of sleep, + To glide adown old Nilus, where he threads + Egypt and Aethiopia, from the steep + Of utmost Axume, until he spreads, _500 + Like a calm flock of silver-fleeced sheep, + His waters on the plain: and crested heads + Of cities and proud temples gleam amid, + And many a vapour-belted pyramid. + + 58. + By Moeris and the Mareotid lakes, _505 + Strewn with faint blooms like bridal chamber floors, + Where naked boys bridling tame water-snakes, + Or charioteering ghastly alligators, + Had left on the sweet waters mighty wakes + Of those huge forms--within the brazen doors _510 + Of the great Labyrinth slept both boy and beast, + Tired with the pomp of their Osirian feast. + + 59. + And where within the surface of the river + The shadows of the massy temples lie, + And never are erased--but tremble ever _515 + Like things which every cloud can doom to die, + Through lotus-paven canals, and wheresoever + The works of man pierced that serenest sky + With tombs, and towers, and fanes, 'twas her delight + To wander in the shadow of the night. _520 + + 60. + With motion like the spirit of that wind + Whose soft step deepens slumber, her light feet + Passed through the peopled haunts of humankind. + Scattering sweet visions from her presence sweet, + Through fane, and palace-court, and labyrinth mined _525 + With many a dark and subterranean street + Under the Nile, through chambers high and deep + She passed, observing mortals in their sleep. + + 61. + A pleasure sweet doubtless it was to see + Mortals subdued in all the shapes of sleep. _530 + Here lay two sister twins in infancy; + There, a lone youth who in his dreams did weep; + Within, two lovers linked innocently + In their loose locks which over both did creep + Like ivy from one stem;--and there lay calm _535 + Old age with snow-bright hair and folded palm. + + 62. + But other troubled forms of sleep she saw, + Not to be mirrored in a holy song-- + Distortions foul of supernatural awe, + And pale imaginings of visioned wrong; _540 + And all the code of Custom's lawless law + Written upon the brows of old and young: + 'This,' said the wizard maiden, 'is the strife + Which stirs the liquid surface of man's life.' + + 63. + And little did the sight disturb her soul.-- _545 + We, the weak mariners of that wide lake + Where'er its shores extend or billows roll, + Our course unpiloted and starless make + O'er its wild surface to an unknown goal:-- + But she in the calm depths her way could take, _550 + Where in bright bowers immortal forms abide + Beneath the weltering of the restless tide. + + 64. + And she saw princes couched under the glow + Of sunlike gems; and round each temple-court + In dormitories ranged, row after row, _555 + She saw the priests asleep--all of one sort-- + For all were educated to be so.-- + The peasants in their huts, and in the port + The sailors she saw cradled on the waves, + And the dead lulled within their dreamless graves. _560 + + 65. + And all the forms in which those spirits lay + Were to her sight like the diaphanous + Veils, in which those sweet ladies oft array + Their delicate limbs, who would conceal from us + Only their scorn of all concealment: they _565 + Move in the light of their own beauty thus. + But these and all now lay with sleep upon them, + And little thought a Witch was looking on them. + + 66. + She, all those human figures breathing there, + Beheld as living spirits--to her eyes _570 + The naked beauty of the soul lay bare, + And often through a rude and worn disguise + She saw the inner form most bright and fair-- + And then she had a charm of strange device, + Which, murmured on mute lips with tender tone, _575 + Could make that spirit mingle with her own. + + 67. + Alas! Aurora, what wouldst thou have given + For such a charm when Tithon became gray? + Or how much, Venus, of thy silver heaven + Wouldst thou have yielded, ere Proserpina _580 + Had half (oh! why not all?) the debt forgiven + Which dear Adonis had been doomed to pay, + To any witch who would have taught you it? + The Heliad doth not know its value yet. + + 68. + 'Tis said in after times her spirit free _585 + Knew what love was, and felt itself alone-- + But holy Dian could not chaster be + Before she stooped to kiss Endymion, + Than now this lady--like a sexless bee + Tasting all blossoms, and confined to none, _590 + Among those mortal forms, the wizard-maiden + Passed with an eye serene and heart unladen. + + 69. + To those she saw most beautiful, she gave + Strange panacea in a crystal bowl:-- + They drank in their deep sleep of that sweet wave, _595 + And lived thenceforward as if some control, + Mightier than life, were in them; and the grave + Of such, when death oppressed the weary soul, + Was as a green and overarching bower + Lit by the gems of many a starry flower. _600 + + 70. + For on the night when they were buried, she + Restored the embalmers' ruining, and shook + The light out of the funeral lamps, to be + A mimic day within that deathy nook; + And she unwound the woven imagery _605 + Of second childhood's swaddling bands, and took + The coffin, its last cradle, from its niche, + And threw it with contempt into a ditch. + + 71. + And there the body lay, age after age. + Mute, breathing, beating, warm, and undecaying, _610 + Like one asleep in a green hermitage, + With gentle smiles about its eyelids playing, + And living in its dreams beyond the rage + Of death or life; while they were still arraying + In liveries ever new, the rapid, blind _615 + And fleeting generations of mankind. + + 72. + And she would write strange dreams upon the brain + Of those who were less beautiful, and make + All harsh and crooked purposes more vain + Than in the desert is the serpent's wake _620 + Which the sand covers--all his evil gain + The miser in such dreams would rise and shake + Into a beggar's lap;--the lying scribe + Would his own lies betray without a bribe. + + 73. + The priests would write an explanation full, _625 + Translating hieroglyphics into Greek, + How the God Apis really was a bull, + And nothing more; and bid the herald stick + The same against the temple doors, and pull + The old cant down; they licensed all to speak _630 + Whate'er they thought of hawks, and cats, and geese, + By pastoral letters to each diocese. + + 74. + The king would dress an ape up in his crown + And robes, and seat him on his glorious seat, + And on the right hand of the sunlike throne _635 + Would place a gaudy mock-bird to repeat + The chatterings of the monkey.--Every one + Of the prone courtiers crawled to kiss the feet + Of their great Emperor, when the morning came, + And kissed--alas, how many kiss the same! _640 + + 75. + The soldiers dreamed that they were blacksmiths, and + Walked out of quarters in somnambulism; + Round the red anvils you might see them stand + Like Cyclopses in Vulcan's sooty abysm, + Beating their swords to ploughshares;--in a band _645 + The gaolers sent those of the liberal schism + Free through the streets of Memphis, much, I wis, + To the annoyance of king Amasis. + + 76. + And timid lovers who had been so coy, + They hardly knew whether they loved or not, _650 + Would rise out of their rest, and take sweet joy, + To the fulfilment of their inmost thought; + And when next day the maiden and the boy + Met one another, both, like sinners caught, + Blushed at the thing which each believed was done _655 + Only in fancy--till the tenth moon shone; + + 77. + And then the Witch would let them take no ill: + Of many thousand schemes which lovers find, + The Witch found one,--and so they took their fill + Of happiness in marriage warm and kind. _660 + Friends who, by practice of some envious skill, + Were torn apart--a wide wound, mind from mind!-- + She did unite again with visions clear + Of deep affection and of truth sincere. + + 80. + These were the pranks she played among the cities _665 + Of mortal men, and what she did to Sprites + And Gods, entangling them in her sweet ditties + To do her will, and show their subtle sleights, + I will declare another time; for it is + A tale more fit for the weird winter nights _670 + Than for these garish summer days, when we + Scarcely believe much more than we can see. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Witch of Atlas, by Percy Bysshe Shelley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WITCH OF ATLAS *** + +***** This file should be named 4696.txt or 4696.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/6/9/4696/ + +Produced by Sue Asscher + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we usually do not +keep etexts in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +The "legal small print" and other information about this book +may now be found at the end of this file. Please read this +important information, as it gives you specific rights and +tells you about restrictions in how the file may be used. + + + + + + + + + + + + TO MARY + (ON HER OBJECTING TO THE FOLLOWING POEM, UPON THE + SCORE OF ITS CONTAINING NO HUMAN INTEREST). + + 1. + How, my dear Mary,--are you critic-bitten + (For vipers kill, though dead) by some review, + That you condemn these verses I have written, + Because they tell no story, false or true? + What, though no mice are caught by a young kitten, _5 + May it not leap and play as grown cats do, + Till its claws come? Prithee, for this one time, + Content thee with a visionary rhyme. + + 2. + What hand would crush the silken-winged fly, + The youngest of inconstant April's minions, _10 + Because it cannot climb the purest sky, + Where the swan sings, amid the sun's dominions? + Not thine. Thou knowest 'tis its doom to die, + When Day shall hide within her twilight pinions + The lucent eyes, and the eternal smile, _15 + Serene as thine, which lent it life awhile. + + 3. + To thy fair feet a winged Vision came, + Whose date should have been longer than a day, + And o'er thy head did beat its wings for fame, + And in thy sight its fading plumes display; _20 + The watery bow burned in the evening flame. + But the shower fell, the swift Sun went his way-- + And that is dead.--O, let me not believe + That anything of mine is fit to live! + + 4. + Wordsworth informs us he was nineteen years _25 + Considering and retouching Peter Bell; + Watering his laurels with the killing tears + Of slow, dull care, so that their roots to Hell + Might pierce, and their wide branches blot the spheres + Of Heaven, with dewy leaves and flowers; this well _30 + May be, for Heaven and Earth conspire to foil + The over-busy gardener's blundering toil. + + 5. + My Witch indeed is not so sweet a creature + As Ruth or Lucy, whom his graceful praise + Clothes for our grandsons--but she matches Peter, _35 + Though he took nineteen years, and she three days + In dressing. Light the vest of flowing metre + She wears; he, proud as dandy with his stays, + Has hung upon his wiry limbs a dress + Like King Lear's 'looped and windowed raggedness.' _40 + + 6. + If you strip Peter, you will see a fellow + Scorched by Hell's hyperequatorial climate + Into a kind of a sulphureous yellow: + A lean mark, hardly fit to fling a rhyme at; + In shape a Scaramouch, in hue Othello. _45 + If you unveil my Witch, no priest nor primate + Can shrive you of that sin,--if sin there be + In love, when it becomes idolatry. + + + THE WITCH OF ATLAS. + + 1. + Before those cruel Twins, whom at one birth + Incestuous Change bore to her father Time, _50 + Error and Truth, had hunted from the Earth + All those bright natures which adorned its prime, + And left us nothing to believe in, worth + The pains of putting into learned rhyme, + A lady-witch there lived on Atlas' mountain _55 + Within a cavern, by a secret fountain. + + 2. + Her mother was one of the Atlantides: + The all-beholding Sun had ne'er beholden + In his wide voyage o'er continents and seas + So fair a creature, as she lay enfolden _60 + In the warm shadow of her loveliness;-- + He kissed her with his beams, and made all golden + The chamber of gray rock in which she lay-- + She, in that dream of joy, dissolved away. + + 3. + 'Tis said, she first was changed into a vapour, _65 + And then into a cloud, such clouds as flit, + Like splendour-winged moths about a taper, + Round the red west when the sun dies in it: + And then into a meteor, such as caper + On hill-tops when the moon is in a fit: _70 + Then, into one of those mysterious stars + Which hide themselves between the Earth and Mars. + + 4. + Ten times the Mother of the Months had bent + Her bow beside the folding-star, and bidden + With that bright sign the billows to indent _75 + The sea-deserted sand--like children chidden, + At her command they ever came and went-- + Since in that cave a dewy splendour hidden + Took shape and motion: with the living form + Of this embodied Power, the cave grew warm. _80 + + 5. + A lovely lady garmented in light + From her own beauty--deep her eyes, as are + Two openings of unfathomable night + Seen through a Temple's cloven roof--her hair + Dark--the dim brain whirls dizzy with delight. _85 + Picturing her form; her soft smiles shone afar, + And her low voice was heard like love, and drew + All living things towards this wonder new. + + 6. + And first the spotted cameleopard came, + And then the wise and fearless elephant; _90 + Then the sly serpent, in the golden flame + Of his own volumes intervolved;--all gaunt + And sanguine beasts her gentle looks made tame. + They drank before her at her sacred fount; + And every beast of beating heart grew bold, _95 + Such gentleness and power even to behold. + + 7. + The brinded lioness led forth her young, + That she might teach them how they should forego + Their inborn thirst of death; the pard unstrung + His sinews at her feet, and sought to know _100 + With looks whose motions spoke without a tongue + How he might be as gentle as the doe. + The magic circle of her voice and eyes + All savage natures did imparadise. + + 8. + And old Silenus, shaking a green stick _105 + Of lilies, and the wood-gods in a crew + Came, blithe, as in the olive copses thick + Cicadae are, drunk with the noonday dew: + And Dryope and Faunus followed quick, + Teasing the God to sing them something new; _110 + Till in this cave they found the lady lone, + Sitting upon a seat of emerald stone. + + 9. + And universal Pan, 'tis said, was there, + And though none saw him,--through the adamant + Of the deep mountains, through the trackless air, _115 + And through those living spirits, like a want, + He passed out of his everlasting lair + Where the quick heart of the great world doth pant, + And felt that wondrous lady all alone,-- + And she felt him, upon her emerald throne. _120 + + 10. + And every nymph of stream and spreading tree, + And every shepherdess of Ocean's flocks, + Who drives her white waves over the green sea, + And Ocean with the brine on his gray locks, + And quaint Priapus with his company, _125 + All came, much wondering how the enwombed rocks + Could have brought forth so beautiful a birth;-- + Her love subdued their wonder and their mirth. + + 11. + The herdsmen and the mountain maidens came, + And the rude kings of pastoral Garamant-- _130 + Their spirits shook within them, as a flame + Stirred by the air under a cavern gaunt: + Pigmies, and Polyphemes, by many a name, + Centaurs, and Satyrs, and such shapes as haunt + Wet clefts,--and lumps neither alive nor dead, _135 + Dog-headed, bosom-eyed, and bird-footed. + + 12. + For she was beautiful--her beauty made + The bright world dim, and everything beside + Seemed like the fleeting image of a shade: + No thought of living spirit could abide, _140 + Which to her looks had ever been betrayed, + On any object in the world so wide, + On any hope within the circling skies, + But on her form, and in her inmost eyes. + + 13. + Which when the lady knew, she took her spindle _145 + And twined three threads of fleecy mist, and three + Long lines of light, such as the dawn may kindle + The clouds and waves and mountains with; and she + As many star-beams, ere their lamps could dwindle + In the belated moon, wound skilfully; _150 + And with these threads a subtle veil she wove-- + A shadow for the splendour of her love. + + 14. + The deep recesses of her odorous dwelling + Were stored with magic treasures--sounds of air, + Which had the power all spirits of compelling, _155 + Folded in cells of crystal silence there; + Such as we hear in youth, and think the feeling + Will never die--yet ere we are aware, + The feeling and the sound are fled and gone, + And the regret they leave remains alone. _160 + + 15. + And there lay Visions swift, and sweet, and quaint, + Each in its thin sheath, like a chrysalis, + Some eager to burst forth, some weak and faint + With the soft burthen of intensest bliss. + It was its work to bear to many a saint _165 + Whose heart adores the shrine which holiest is, + Even Love's:--and others white, green, gray, and black, + And of all shapes--and each was at her beck. + + 16. + And odours in a kind of aviary + Of ever-blooming Eden-trees she kept, _170 + Clipped in a floating net, a love-sick Fairy + Had woven from dew-beams while the moon yet slept; + As bats at the wired window of a dairy, + They beat their vans; and each was an adept, + When loosed and missioned, making wings of winds, _175 + To stir sweet thoughts or sad, in destined minds. + + 17. + And liquors clear and sweet, whose healthful might + Could medicine the sick soul to happy sleep, + And change eternal death into a night + Of glorious dreams--or if eyes needs must weep, _180 + Could make their tears all wonder and delight, + She in her crystal vials did closely keep: + If men could drink of those clear vials, 'tis said + The living were not envied of the dead. + + 18. + Her cave was stored with scrolls of strange device, _185 + The works of some Saturnian Archimage, + Which taught the expiations at whose price + Men from the Gods might win that happy age + Too lightly lost, redeeming native vice; + And which might quench the Earth-consuming rage _190 + Of gold and blood--till men should live and move + Harmonious as the sacred stars above; + + 19. + And how all things that seem untameable, + Not to be checked and not to be confined, + Obey the spells of Wisdom's wizard skill; _195 + Time, earth, and fire--the ocean and the wind, + And all their shapes--and man's imperial will; + And other scrolls whose writings did unbind + The inmost lore of Love--let the profane + Tremble to ask what secrets they contain. _200 + + 20. + And wondrous works of substances unknown, + To which the enchantment of her father's power + Had changed those ragged blocks of savage stone, + Were heaped in the recesses of her bower; + Carved lamps and chalices, and vials which shone _205 + In their own golden beams--each like a flower, + Out of whose depth a fire-fly shakes his light + Under a cypress in a starless night. + + 21. + At first she lived alone in this wild home, + And her own thoughts were each a minister, _210 + Clothing themselves, or with the ocean foam, + Or with the wind, or with the speed of fire, + To work whatever purposes might come + Into her mind; such power her mighty Sire + Had girt them with, whether to fly or run, _215 + Through all the regions which he shines upon. + + 22. + The Ocean-nymphs and Hamadryades, + Oreads and Naiads, with long weedy locks, + Offered to do her bidding through the seas, + Under the earth, and in the hollow rocks, _220 + And far beneath the matted roots of trees, + And in the gnarled heart of stubborn oaks, + So they might live for ever in the light + Of her sweet presence--each a satellite. + + 23. + 'This may not be,' the wizard maid replied; _225 + 'The fountains where the Naiades bedew + Their shining hair, at length are drained and dried; + The solid oaks forget their strength, and strew + Their latest leaf upon the mountains wide; + The boundless ocean like a drop of dew _230 + Will be consumed--the stubborn centre must + Be scattered, like a cloud of summer dust. + + 24. + 'And ye with them will perish, one by one;-- + If I must sigh to think that this shall be, + If I must weep when the surviving Sun _235 + Shall smile on your decay--oh, ask not me + To love you till your little race is run; + I cannot die as ye must--over me + Your leaves shall glance--the streams in which ye dwell + Shall be my paths henceforth, and so--farewell!'-- _240 + + 25. + She spoke and wept:--the dark and azure well + Sparkled beneath the shower of her bright tears, + And every little circlet where they fell + Flung to the cavern-roof inconstant spheres + And intertangled lines of light:--a knell _245 + Of sobbing voices came upon her ears + From those departing Forms, o'er the serene + Of the white streams and of the forest green. + + 26. + All day the wizard lady sate aloof, + Spelling out scrolls of dread antiquity, _250 + Under the cavern's fountain-lighted roof; + Or broidering the pictured poesy + Of some high tale upon her growing woof, + Which the sweet splendour of her smiles could dye + In hues outshining heaven--and ever she _255 + Added some grace to the wrought poesy. + + 27. + While on her hearth lay blazing many a piece + Of sandal wood, rare gums, and cinnamon; + Men scarcely know how beautiful fire is-- + Each flame of it is as a precious stone _260 + Dissolved in ever-moving light, and this + Belongs to each and all who gaze upon. + The Witch beheld it not, for in her hand + She held a woof that dimmed the burning brand. + + 28. + This lady never slept, but lay in trance _265 + All night within the fountain--as in sleep. + Its emerald crags glowed in her beauty's glance; + Through the green splendour of the water deep + She saw the constellations reel and dance + Like fire-flies--and withal did ever keep _270 + The tenour of her contemplations calm, + With open eyes, closed feet, and folded palm. + + 29. + And when the whirlwinds and the clouds descended + From the white pinnacles of that cold hill, + She passed at dewfall to a space extended, _275 + Where in a lawn of flowering asphodel + Amid a wood of pines and cedars blended, + There yawned an inextinguishable well + Of crimson fire--full even to the brim, + And overflowing all the margin trim. _280 + + 30. + Within the which she lay when the fierce war + Of wintry winds shook that innocuous liquor + In many a mimic moon and bearded star + O'er woods and lawns;--the serpent heard it flicker + In sleep, and dreaming still, he crept afar-- _285 + And when the windless snow descended thicker + Than autumn leaves, she watched it as it came + Melt on the surface of the level flame. + + 31. + She had a boat, which some say Vulcan wrought + For Venus, as the chariot of her star; _290 + But it was found too feeble to be fraught + With all the ardours in that sphere which are, + And so she sold it, and Apollo bought + And gave it to this daughter: from a car + Changed to the fairest and the lightest boat _295 + Which ever upon mortal stream did float. + + 32. + And others say, that, when but three hours old, + The first-born Love out of his cradle lept, + And clove dun Chaos with his wings of gold, + And like a horticultural adept, _300 + Stole a strange seed, and wrapped it up in mould, + And sowed it in his mother's star, and kept + Watering it all the summer with sweet dew, + And with his wings fanning it as it grew. + + 33. + The plant grew strong and green, the snowy flower _305 + Fell, and the long and gourd-like fruit began + To turn the light and dew by inward power + To its own substance; woven tracery ran + Of light firm texture, ribbed and branching, o'er + The solid rind, like a leaf's veined fan-- _310 + Of which Love scooped this boat--and with soft motion + Piloted it round the circumfluous ocean. + + 34. + This boat she moored upon her fount, and lit + A living spirit within all its frame, + Breathing the soul of swiftness into it. _315 + Couched on the fountain like a panther tame, + One of the twain at Evan's feet that sit-- + Or as on Vesta's sceptre a swift flame-- + Or on blind Homer's heart a winged thought,-- + In joyous expectation lay the boat. _320 + + 35. + Then by strange art she kneaded fire and snow + Together, tempering the repugnant mass + With liquid love--all things together grow + Through which the harmony of love can pass; + And a fair Shape out of her hands did flow-- _325 + A living Image, which did far surpass + In beauty that bright shape of vital stone + Which drew the heart out of Pygmalion. + + 36. + A sexless thing it was, and in its growth + It seemed to have developed no defect _330 + Of either sex, yet all the grace of both,-- + In gentleness and strength its limbs were decked; + The bosom swelled lightly with its full youth, + The countenance was such as might select + Some artist that his skill should never die, _335 + Imaging forth such perfect purity. + + 37. + From its smooth shoulders hung two rapid wings, + Fit to have borne it to the seventh sphere, + Tipped with the speed of liquid lightenings, + Dyed in the ardours of the atmosphere: _340 + She led her creature to the boiling springs + Where the light boat was moored, and said: 'Sit here!' + And pointed to the prow, and took her seat + Beside the rudder, with opposing feet. + + 38. + And down the streams which clove those mountains vast, _345 + Around their inland islets, and amid + The panther-peopled forests whose shade cast + Darkness and odours, and a pleasure hid + In melancholy gloom, the pinnace passed; + By many a star-surrounded pyramid _350 + Of icy crag cleaving the purple sky, + And caverns yawning round unfathomably. + + 39. + The silver noon into that winding dell, + With slanted gleam athwart the forest tops, + Tempered like golden evening, feebly fell; _355 + A green and glowing light, like that which drops + From folded lilies in which glow-worms dwell, + When Earth over her face Night's mantle wraps; + Between the severed mountains lay on high, + Over the stream, a narrow rift of sky. _360 + + 40. + And ever as she went, the Image lay + With folded wings and unawakened eyes; + And o'er its gentle countenance did play + The busy dreams, as thick as summer flies, + Chasing the rapid smiles that would not stay, _365 + And drinking the warm tears, and the sweet sighs + Inhaling, which, with busy murmur vain, + They had aroused from that full heart and brain. + + 41. + And ever down the prone vale, like a cloud + Upon a stream of wind, the pinnace went: _370 + Now lingering on the pools, in which abode + The calm and darkness of the deep content + In which they paused; now o'er the shallow road + Of white and dancing waters, all besprent + With sand and polished pebbles:--mortal boat _375 + In such a shallow rapid could not float. + + 42. + And down the earthquaking cataracts which shiver + Their snow-like waters into golden air, + Or under chasms unfathomable ever + Sepulchre them, till in their rage they tear _380 + A subterranean portal for the river, + It fled--the circling sunbows did upbear + Its fall down the hoar precipice of spray, + Lighting it far upon its lampless way. + + 43. + And when the wizard lady would ascend _385 + The labyrinths of some many-winding vale, + Which to the inmost mountain upward tend-- + She called 'Hermaphroditus!'--and the pale + And heavy hue which slumber could extend + Over its lips and eyes, as on the gale _390 + A rapid shadow from a slope of grass, + Into the darkness of the stream did pass. + + 44. + And it unfurled its heaven-coloured pinions, + With stars of fire spotting the stream below; + And from above into the Sun's dominions _395 + Flinging a glory, like the golden glow + In which Spring clothes her emerald-winged minions, + All interwoven with fine feathery snow + And moonlight splendour of intensest rime, + With which frost paints the pines in winter time. _400 + + 45. + And then it winnowed the Elysian air + Which ever hung about that lady bright, + With its aethereal vans--and speeding there, + Like a star up the torrent of the night, + Or a swift eagle in the morning glare _405 + Breasting the whirlwind with impetuous flight, + The pinnace, oared by those enchanted wings, + Clove the fierce streams towards their upper springs. + + 46. + The water flashed, like sunlight by the prow + Of a noon-wandering meteor flung to Heaven; _410 + The still air seemed as if its waves did flow + In tempest down the mountains; loosely driven + The lady's radiant hair streamed to and fro: + Beneath, the billows having vainly striven + Indignant and impetuous, roared to feel _415 + The swift and steady motion of the keel. + + 47. + Or, when the weary moon was in the wane, + Or in the noon of interlunar night, + The lady-witch in visions could not chain + Her spirit; but sailed forth under the light _420 + Of shooting stars, and bade extend amain + Its storm-outspeeding wings, the Hermaphrodite; + She to the Austral waters took her way, + Beyond the fabulous Thamondocana,-- + + 48. + Where, like a meadow which no scythe has shaven, _425 + Which rain could never bend, or whirl-blast shake, + With the Antarctic constellations paven, + Canopus and his crew, lay the Austral lake-- + There she would build herself a windless haven + Out of the clouds whose moving turrets make _430 + The bastions of the storm, when through the sky + The spirits of the tempest thundered by: + + 49. + A haven beneath whose translucent floor + The tremulous stars sparkled unfathomably, + And around which the solid vapours hoar, _435 + Based on the level waters, to the sky + Lifted their dreadful crags, and like a shore + Of wintry mountains, inaccessibly + Hemmed in with rifts and precipices gray, + And hanging crags, many a cove and bay. _440 + + 50. + And whilst the outer lake beneath the lash + Of the wind's scourge, foamed like a wounded thing, + And the incessant hail with stony clash + Ploughed up the waters, and the flagging wing + Of the roused cormorant in the lightning flash _445 + Looked like the wreck of some wind-wandering + Fragment of inky thunder-smoke--this haven + Was as a gem to copy Heaven engraven,-- + + 51. + On which that lady played her many pranks, + Circling the image of a shooting star, _450 + Even as a tiger on Hydaspes' banks + Outspeeds the antelopes which speediest are, + In her light boat; and many quips and cranks + She played upon the water, till the car + Of the late moon, like a sick matron wan, _455 + To journey from the misty east began. + + 52. + And then she called out of the hollow turrets + Of those high clouds, white, golden and vermilion, + The armies of her ministering spirits-- + In mighty legions, million after million, _460 + They came, each troop emblazoning its merits + On meteor flags; and many a proud pavilion + Of the intertexture of the atmosphere + They pitched upon the plain of the calm mere. + + 53. + They framed the imperial tent of their great Queen _465 + Of woven exhalations, underlaid + With lambent lightning-fire, as may be seen + A dome of thin and open ivory inlaid + With crimson silk--cressets from the serene + Hung there, and on the water for her tread _470 + A tapestry of fleece-like mist was strewn, + Dyed in the beams of the ascending moon. + + 54. + And on a throne o'erlaid with starlight, caught + Upon those wandering isles of aery dew, + Which highest shoals of mountain shipwreck not, _475 + She sate, and heard all that had happened new + Between the earth and moon, since they had brought + The last intelligence--and now she grew + Pale as that moon, lost in the watery night-- + And now she wept, and now she laughed outright. _480 + + 55. + These were tame pleasures; she would often climb + The steepest ladder of the crudded rack + Up to some beaked cape of cloud sublime, + And like Arion on the dolphin's back + Ride singing through the shoreless air;--oft-time _485 + Following the serpent lightning's winding track, + She ran upon the platforms of the wind, + And laughed to hear the fire-balls roar behind. + + 56. + And sometimes to those streams of upper air + Which whirl the earth in its diurnal round, _490 + She would ascend, and win the spirits there + To let her join their chorus. Mortals found + That on those days the sky was calm and fair, + And mystic snatches of harmonious sound + Wandered upon the earth where'er she passed, _495 + And happy thoughts of hope, too sweet to last. + + 57. + But her choice sport was, in the hours of sleep, + To glide adown old Nilus, where he threads + Egypt and Aethiopia, from the steep + Of utmost Axume, until he spreads, _500 + Like a calm flock of silver-fleeced sheep, + His waters on the plain: and crested heads + Of cities and proud temples gleam amid, + And many a vapour-belted pyramid. + + 58. + By Moeris and the Mareotid lakes, _505 + Strewn with faint blooms like bridal chamber floors, + Where naked boys bridling tame water-snakes, + Or charioteering ghastly alligators, + Had left on the sweet waters mighty wakes + Of those huge forms--within the brazen doors _510 + Of the great Labyrinth slept both boy and beast, + Tired with the pomp of their Osirian feast. + + 59. + And where within the surface of the river + The shadows of the massy temples lie, + And never are erased--but tremble ever _515 + Like things which every cloud can doom to die, + Through lotus-paven canals, and wheresoever + The works of man pierced that serenest sky + With tombs, and towers, and fanes, 'twas her delight + To wander in the shadow of the night. _520 + + 60. + With motion like the spirit of that wind + Whose soft step deepens slumber, her light feet + Passed through the peopled haunts of humankind. + Scattering sweet visions from her presence sweet, + Through fane, and palace-court, and labyrinth mined _525 + With many a dark and subterranean street + Under the Nile, through chambers high and deep + She passed, observing mortals in their sleep. + + 61. + A pleasure sweet doubtless it was to see + Mortals subdued in all the shapes of sleep. _530 + Here lay two sister twins in infancy; + There, a lone youth who in his dreams did weep; + Within, two lovers linked innocently + In their loose locks which over both did creep + Like ivy from one stem;--and there lay calm _535 + Old age with snow-bright hair and folded palm. + + 62. + But other troubled forms of sleep she saw, + Not to be mirrored in a holy song-- + Distortions foul of supernatural awe, + And pale imaginings of visioned wrong; _540 + And all the code of Custom's lawless law + Written upon the brows of old and young: + 'This,' said the wizard maiden, 'is the strife + Which stirs the liquid surface of man's life.' + + 63. + And little did the sight disturb her soul.-- _545 + We, the weak mariners of that wide lake + Where'er its shores extend or billows roll, + Our course unpiloted and starless make + O'er its wild surface to an unknown goal:-- + But she in the calm depths her way could take, _550 + Where in bright bowers immortal forms abide + Beneath the weltering of the restless tide. + + 64. + And she saw princes couched under the glow + Of sunlike gems; and round each temple-court + In dormitories ranged, row after row, _555 + She saw the priests asleep--all of one sort-- + For all were educated to be so.-- + The peasants in their huts, and in the port + The sailors she saw cradled on the waves, + And the dead lulled within their dreamless graves. _560 + + 65. + And all the forms in which those spirits lay + Were to her sight like the diaphanous + Veils, in which those sweet ladies oft array + Their delicate limbs, who would conceal from us + Only their scorn of all concealment: they _565 + Move in the light of their own beauty thus. + But these and all now lay with sleep upon them, + And little thought a Witch was looking on them. + + 66. + She, all those human figures breathing there, + Beheld as living spirits--to her eyes _570 + The naked beauty of the soul lay bare, + And often through a rude and worn disguise + She saw the inner form most bright and fair-- + And then she had a charm of strange device, + Which, murmured on mute lips with tender tone, _575 + Could make that spirit mingle with her own. + + 67. + Alas! Aurora, what wouldst thou have given + For such a charm when Tithon became gray? + Or how much, Venus, of thy silver heaven + Wouldst thou have yielded, ere Proserpina _580 + Had half (oh! why not all?) the debt forgiven + Which dear Adonis had been doomed to pay, + To any witch who would have taught you it? + The Heliad doth not know its value yet. + + 68. + 'Tis said in after times her spirit free _585 + Knew what love was, and felt itself alone-- + But holy Dian could not chaster be + Before she stooped to kiss Endymion, + Than now this lady--like a sexless bee + Tasting all blossoms, and confined to none, _590 + Among those mortal forms, the wizard-maiden + Passed with an eye serene and heart unladen. + + 69. + To those she saw most beautiful, she gave + Strange panacea in a crystal bowl:-- + They drank in their deep sleep of that sweet wave, _595 + And lived thenceforward as if some control, + Mightier than life, were in them; and the grave + Of such, when death oppressed the weary soul, + Was as a green and overarching bower + Lit by the gems of many a starry flower. _600 + + 70. + For on the night when they were buried, she + Restored the embalmers' ruining, and shook + The light out of the funeral lamps, to be + A mimic day within that deathy nook; + And she unwound the woven imagery _605 + Of second childhood's swaddling bands, and took + The coffin, its last cradle, from its niche, + And threw it with contempt into a ditch. + + 71. + And there the body lay, age after age. + Mute, breathing, beating, warm, and undecaying, _610 + Like one asleep in a green hermitage, + With gentle smiles about its eyelids playing, + And living in its dreams beyond the rage + Of death or life; while they were still arraying + In liveries ever new, the rapid, blind _615 + And fleeting generations of mankind. + + 72. + And she would write strange dreams upon the brain + Of those who were less beautiful, and make + All harsh and crooked purposes more vain + Than in the desert is the serpent's wake _620 + Which the sand covers--all his evil gain + The miser in such dreams would rise and shake + Into a beggar's lap;--the lying scribe + Would his own lies betray without a bribe. + + 73. + The priests would write an explanation full, _625 + Translating hieroglyphics into Greek, + How the God Apis really was a bull, + And nothing more; and bid the herald stick + The same against the temple doors, and pull + The old cant down; they licensed all to speak _630 + Whate'er they thought of hawks, and cats, and geese, + By pastoral letters to each diocese. + + 74. + The king would dress an ape up in his crown + And robes, and seat him on his glorious seat, + And on the right hand of the sunlike throne _635 + Would place a gaudy mock-bird to repeat + The chatterings of the monkey.--Every one + Of the prone courtiers crawled to kiss the feet + Of their great Emperor, when the morning came, + And kissed--alas, how many kiss the same! _640 + + 75. + The soldiers dreamed that they were blacksmiths, and + Walked out of quarters in somnambulism; + Round the red anvils you might see them stand + Like Cyclopses in Vulcan's sooty abysm, + Beating their swords to ploughshares;--in a band _645 + The gaolers sent those of the liberal schism + Free through the streets of Memphis, much, I wis, + To the annoyance of king Amasis. + + 76. + And timid lovers who had been so coy, + They hardly knew whether they loved or not, _650 + Would rise out of their rest, and take sweet joy, + To the fulfilment of their inmost thought; + And when next day the maiden and the boy + Met one another, both, like sinners caught, + Blushed at the thing which each believed was done _655 + Only in fancy--till the tenth moon shone; + + 77. + And then the Witch would let them take no ill: + Of many thousand schemes which lovers find, + The Witch found one,--and so they took their fill + Of happiness in marriage warm and kind. _660 + Friends who, by practice of some envious skill, + Were torn apart--a wide wound, mind from mind!-- + She did unite again with visions clear + Of deep affection and of truth sincere. + + 80. + These were the pranks she played among the cities _665 + Of mortal men, and what she did to Sprites + And Gods, entangling them in her sweet ditties + To do her will, and show their subtle sleights, + I will declare another time; for it is + A tale more fit for the weird winter nights _670 + Than for these garish summer days, when we + Scarcely believe much more than we can see. + + + + + + + + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Witch of Atlas, by Percy Bysshe Shelley +***********This file should be named wtctl10.txt or wtctl10.zip*********** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, wtctl11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, wtctl10a.txt + +Produced by Sue Asscher <asschers@dingoblue.net.au> + +More information about this book is at the top of this file. + +We are now trying to release all our etexts one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. 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