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| author | www-data <www-data@mail.pglaf.org> | 2026-07-10 20:35:36 -0700 |
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| committer | www-data <www-data@mail.pglaf.org> | 2026-07-10 20:35:36 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f57f44 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text +*.htm text +*.html text +*.png binary +*.jpg binary +*.svg text +*.pdf binary +*.bmp binary +*.zip binary +*.midi binary +*.mp3 binary diff --git a/79071-0.txt b/79071-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5fe34c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/79071-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,955 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79071 *** + + + + + SAMPHIRE + + + + + SAMPHIRE + + + +by+ + +John Cowper Powys+ + + + “Half way down + Hangs one that gathers Samphire, dreadful trade! + Methinks he seems no bigger than his head.” + King Lear. Act IV. Scene VI. + + + [Illustration: TS logo] + + + NEW YORK + THOMAS SELTZER + 1922 + + + + + Copyright, 1922, by + +Thomas Seltzer, Inc.+ + + _All rights reserved_ + + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + + + DEDICATED TO LLEWELYN POWYS + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + +The Ultimate+ 1 + +Demogorgon+ 4 + +The Old Pier-Post+ 6 + +The Castle of Gathore+ 9 + +The Twilight of the Gods+ 13 + +The Face+ 16 + +The Heron’s Nest+ 19 + +Lubberlu+ 22 + +The Old Satyr to the Young Platonist+ 25 + +Youth and Age+ 28 + +Metaphysic+ 31 + +The Malice-Dance+ 34 + +Candle Light+ 36 + +The Eclipse+ 39 + +The Rider+ 43 + +William Corby+ 45 + +To a Certain Lady+ 47 + +The “Disaster”+ 49 + +November+ 51 + +Bon Espoir Y Gist Au Fond!+ 52 + + + + + SAMPHIRE + + + + +THE ULTIMATE + + + So this is the ultimate-- + That we bleed with our backs to the wall, + While the rats and weasels of fate + Eat at our liver and gall; + Eat at our hearts with teeth of bane, + And tug at the sick white roots of pain + Where every man’s alone, + And scrape a tune on the deep nerve-string + That is love and life and everything, + And gnaw our flesh to the bone. + + Is this the ultimate? + No! This is nothing at all! + _Some_ human dramas stop with this; + With this some curtains fall. + But the play that the high gods love + In their Theatre of Space + Has the mind, the mind for the stage thereof + And the soul for its dancing place! + Oh shapes of terror and fear, + Oh shapes of loathing and lust, + That gibber and jibe at us _here_ + Ye break earth’s shallow crust. + Far back that stage recedes-- + Who knows where that stairway goes? + Who knows where that passage leads? + And that door? Who knows? Who knows? + + For the rats that again and again + Gnaw at each rib and joint + Of the vessel of our pain + Stop gasping at this point; + And in crowds they flee from the ship + That steers for the open sea + And turns the prow of its bleeding lip + Towards eternity! + + + + +DEMOGORGON + + + I am the Devil of Notre Dame. + Salaam! + I dance my dance and I work my charm. + Salaam! + I cling to terror by the hair of her head, + I have taken Medusa to my bed. + I hug the Nightmare until she is dead. + Salaam! + Hush! By the Lord’s side I have stood-- + Touch wood! + Before Orion rose out of the sky + Rose I! + Before the Hunter hunted the Ram + I am + I am the Demon of Socrates + On your knees! + + The oldest of the Eumenides-- + The she-ape of Mephistopheles-- + The deadly wind in Dodona’s trees-- + The poisonous smoke ’twixt the Pythia’s knees-- + I am more terrible than these! + + In Jotunheim, Loki I’m called-- + Scald! + I am Asmódéus in Babylon. + In Egypt I am Osiris’ son + I am many and I am One. + + At the Beginning I stood by the Lord + God! + At the last I shall be the Worm of the Pit + Uncurled + Who swallows Him and who swallows It + His World! + + + + +THE OLD PIER-POST + + + I am the sea-ward-looking one, + Covered with weed and slime-- + “Fresh fish for sale!”--of a row of posts, + That rotted by centuries nod like ghosts + To the ebb and flow of time. + Sea-tangle and sea-scum + Will the Christ never come? + + Two lovers that met at this ocean-mart, + With kissings and clingings pale + Breaking the shell of a human heart + And tearing its bleeding core apart,-- + --“Fresh fish, fresh fish for sale!”-- + + Left a tress of shining hair on me; + And two sea-gulls that once were mates + But were wrenched away by the blinding spray + And the unrelenting fates, + + Left a feather on me, a shining feather, + With sea-scum covered and scales + Of the mackerel bright they had caught together, + --“Fresh fish for sale!”--in the wild storm-weather + And the fury of the gales. + + And the terrible ultimate thought of one + Who had scooped at the shingle of things + Till he’d taken the light from the kindly sun-- + --“Fresh fish for sale!”--and to death had done + The light that the sweet moon brings, + + Graved itself on the grey sea-mark + Wherewith with eyeless stare + I frown at the twilight and face the dark-- + --“Fresh fish for sale!”--and with forehead stark + Confront a world’s despair. + + A shining tress, a feather, a thought-- + With these I create a soul, + A soul that is not to be sold or bought; + Yes; I who am nought and less than nought-- + --“Fresh fish for sale!”--have _something_ caught + From the waters as they roll! + + Yes; I, the sea-ward-looking one, + Covered with weed and slime, + Have gathered a soul to rest upon + As I rock to the rhythm of time. + Bright hair, bright feather, brain-disease + Blotting the sun and moon-- + If an old sea-pier steals a soul from these, + Christ _must_ be coming soon! + + + + +THE CASTLE OF GATHORE + + + There is a place none knows but I-- + The Castle of Gathore! + Black murky pools about it lie. + And the trees are sick with its mystery; + And dead things are its floor. + + Each tree with twisted root entwines + The bones of older trees. + Moon after moon above them shines-- + Beyond the moon--the Zodiac signs! + Beyond _them_--the Immensities! + + None would think that ever such pools could be! + Black morgues of leafy doom, + Where century after century + Old forests find their tomb. + + Oh terrible steps of leaf-mould sod + Such as man never saw + That mount up--holy Mother of God!-- + To the Castle of Gathore! + + And I alone--yes only I-- + Under Algol and Altair-- + When a new-born moon was in the sky + Climbed up that mossy stair. + + Old Cypress-roots of long decay + Troubled my noiseless tread; + Old Yews made midnight of the day + As they met above my head. + + Out of the trees, tier above tier, + Mossed stone above mossed stone, + Buttress on buttress, it towered there, + A Nightmare image, a thing of fear, + Revealed to me alone! + + My home! My home! To my heart I said-- + My home! To my soul I cried-- + From here have been wafted those airs of the dead + That have driven my true love from my bed, + And my true love from my side! + + This is what divides me from him and her + And the blessed light of the sun; + Till the eyes of Algol and of Altair + Are my only benison! + + This is what they guessed when in dumb surprise + They turned and let me pass-- + This is what they saw behind my eyes + Like a phantom in a glass! + + They saw those towers; they saw those trees; + And I am alone once more-- + Alone with the Immensities + And the Castle of Gathore! + + + + +THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS + + + In a long sad row the old gods come; + They come and bow to me. + Like candle-flames in a raftered room, + Like trees in an avenue of doom, + They bend in unity. + + And a sound comes from them, a terrible sound, + Like the wind in a tamarisk grove, + Or a howl from some treacherous marshy ground + Where the swamp-demons move. + + And in that moan is the cracking of sticks + Where Behemoth stalks thro’ the trees; + And in that moan is the flame that licks + The knees of Rameses: + + And in that moan rocks Nineveh + With her golden roofs and floors! + And in that moan quakes Babylon + With her columned corridors! + + From my little green seat of piled-up sods + Like a dwarf on a churchyard mound + I watch that row of bowing Gods + And I hear that terrible sound. + + They nod and mutter; they sway and bend + Like monoliths of stone, + Like huge gaunt birds on a branches’ end, + And as they bend they moan. + + They shiver like monstrous skeleton leaves; + They rattle like gibbets stark; + They reel like ruined autumn sheaves + In the stubble of the dark. + + Their eye-sockets are hollow and deep; + Their foreheads are cliffs of doom; + And they bleat at me like gigantic sheep + That are herded in a tomb. + + And very slowly I lift my head-- + And slowly I lift my hand + --And a row of horny beetles dead + Lie scattered in the sand! + + + + +THE FACE + + + In the hollow spaces I see a face + As I go whistling to my Dear, + And in those lineaments I trace + The ultimate Fear. + + Throned on the dark that face I see, + As I go whistling to my Doll; + Of human terror the apogee-- + Fol-de-rol! + + The wreckage of the whole damned race, + As I go whistling to my white bird, + Is in that wavering ghastly face + That speaks no word! + + Is that face moulded by treachery + As I go whistling to my Poll, + And carved by lust out of lechery? + Fol-lol-de-rol! + + Has it woven itself out of ancient sorrows + As I go whistling to my maid, + Out of all the To-days that to all the To-morrows + Shriek--“betrayed!” + + I like not to see that face in the night, + As I go whistling to my own: + A terrible face for the sweet moonlight + To shine upon! + + But as long as those lips utter no sound, + As I go whistling to my Troll, + All is yet well above the ground, + Fol-lol-de-rol! + + Oh white, white lips that hang so mute, + As I go whistling to my Love, + That ultimate Fear would be absolute + If you should move! + + + + +THE HERON’S NEST + + + The World-Mother sits on her sky-blue eggs-- + “A mare’s nest!” cries the minstrel, laughing. + “Her wings are lovely--but what of her legs?” + Cries the youngest page to the courtiers scoffing. + + “A wicked bird,” cries the mitred priest-- + “To lay blue eggs and to sit on them! + Blue is no colour for bird or beast + Blue is the colour of our Lady’s hem.” + + “A shameless bird!” cries the old queen mother, + “Eggs should be mottled white, not blue.” + “A pox on the bird!” cries the old king’s brother-- + “There’s no such bird!” cry the courtier crew. + + Home from hunting returned the King-- + White as a young birch-tree was he. + “Ye are all of you plotting a curséd thing! + And evil is your conspiracy! + + “I have seen the World-Mother upon her nest; + I have seen those eggs, blue as the sky; + And for what I have seen I would give the rest + Of my kingdom; and willingly die!” + + And the minstrel winked at the youngest page; + And the old queen pinched the fool; + And the mitred priest to hide his rage + Grinned at them like a ghoul. + + “Down on your knees to the great World-Mother! + ’Tis I, your King, who begs.” + But they stood stock-still and stared at each other--“The + King is mad,” cried the old king’s brother. + “I’ve traveled the world from one end to another-- + Those eggs are Heron’s eggs!” + + From the walls of the Madhouse upon the hill, + When this traveler came to be crowned + At the Queen’s and the Priest’s and the Courtier’s will, + There fell a curious sound-- + A sound that was like the flapping of wings; + And a radiant voice that was like the King’s! + + + + +LUBBERLU + + + “Green were her eyes,--yellow were her eyes-- + Her eyes were like withered sedge!” + --“This is holy Mass and the hour flies + And there is red in the church-yard hedge. + + “Raise me aloft my taper’s flame, + Light me my candles three, + For I must call on the Baby’s name + Who is born to young Mary!”-- + + “O father, I see a blood-red streak + In the reeds where first I caught her-- + And I hear a cry makes my heart weak-- + And turns my bones to water. + + “The marsh-bittern and lone curlew + That cry comes not from them--” + --“Bring me bread and wine my Lubberlu, + And hold my vestments’ hem! + + “The candles burn--The oxen kneel. + Boy, bring me my holy book-- + Born is the King of Israel!” + --“Oh father, my father, look! + + “She is pressing her face ’gainst the window-pane, + Where the saints stare in a row + And her lips are red with the morning’s stain + And her cheeks are white like snow!”-- + + --“’Tis Christmas morn and the mass unsung + For the Baby of young Mary!”-- + But the idiot-boy from his side had sprung. + At the window prone was he. + + And the oxen knelt in their frozen shed + And the sheep in their hurdled pen; + But Lubberlu lay stark and dead, + He never will come again. + + They sign his breast and they sign his brow + With the cross to which they pray-- + But two lost souls are flying now + Over the reeds and over the snow, + Over the hills and away. + + + + +THE OLD SATYR TO THE YOUNG PLATONIST + + + Go and get a monk for a lover, + And let me quietly sit + On this warm stone which the lichens cover. + I have had enough of it! + + Did the high gods carve your polished flanks + And make liquid your hazel eyes, + That two should stand on a river’s banks + And offer up the scurvy thanks + Of being over wise? + + Let me alone. I have heard your tale, + How Love is this and how Love is that. + Is not milk still white in the pail + And wine still red in the vat? + + I would have gathered you moschatel, + Wood-spurge, wood-sorel, wood-saxifrage! + When the moon rode forth I’d have taught you to tell + Every star in her equipage! + + Because I’d loved you with satyr passion + Were that a reason I should not keep + Tenderness in my goat-foot fashion, + And watch beside your sleep? + + The oldest of Centaurs is my brother-- + The wild wood-ways are in my blood-- + My mother was the great earth-mother-- + Yet I can love you as well as another + For all my satyrhood! + + Go find your friend. I have pride of my own, + But every noon I’ll sit + On this warm lichen-covered stone, + And perhaps you’ll come back to it! + + Perhaps when they _talk_ of Love one day + In their high platonic hall, + You will curse their chatter and flee away + And find your Satyr’s grave and say, + “His love was best of all!” + + + + +YOUTH AND AGE + + + “O wanton youth, this wind was not + Over common highways blown + From gardens far from here--God wot! + It has caught that plaintive tone. + Listen! But ah! It touches you not! + Listen! But ah! I had forgot-- + The heart of youth is stone. + + “Did you not know such places were? + Lovely are they and few, + The gardens that breathe such perfumed air! + Listen! But what care you? + Over many a moon-lit terraced spot + It has come to claim its own + Over Marjoram and Melilot, + Over London Pride and Bergamot, + It has come to trouble, doubt it not, + All hearts save those of stone!” + + --“I like not this breath in the swaying grasses! + I like not that shadow on the rustling trees! + I _suspect_ that wind as it softly passes + Back to its garden of memories! + Your walled-up pansies are faded and sere; + Your dark parterres of cypress-green + Make the very lizards listen in fear + Of phantom footsteps and forms unseen. + Your fountains are choked with hemlock weeds, + The toad croaks there and the night-owls call. + There are wandering dandelion-seeds + Where red rose-petals were wont to fall! + Oh woe-begone one, you can tempt me not + With your proud sad gardens, your wind that sighs, + Your Mignonette and your Melilot! + The heart of youth is wise.” + + + + +METAPHYSIC + + + Dearie I! When I up and follows + Grand-dad Cooper’s cross-cut road, + The road that from Hawk’s Hill to Green Lane Hollows + Is nought but rabbits and cuckoos and swallows + And fields with turnip sowed, + + Dearie I! the road that over + Badger’s Warren and Turnstile Hill + Skirts park-fence by Witham’s Cover, + Where old man Rob caught young Nell’s lover, + And leads to Dead Man’s Mill, + + Dearie I! I do stop and hear + Out of wind a terrible sound; + And Almighty, he do whisper clear + Like a girt wold owl long-side my ear-- + “Nancy girl, this be holy ground!” + + Dearie I! And he says to me-- + “You’ve been here, Nancy, long ere this!” + And he lifts the veil of his mystery + From the face of his abyss. + + And high Hawk Hill and Green Lane Hollows + Grow only dreams that I have dreamed; + And Grand-dad’s road with its cuckoos and swallows, + The road an old fox-bitch still follows, + Is a fairy-place that only seemed! + + And Dead Man’s Mill grows doubly dead, + For its old-time pond of terribleness, + And him it drowned, like mists are fled! + And nought bides there but nothingness! + Gone, gone--all gone--shadows and dreams! + Dearie I! and ’twere Grand-dad’s road + Whereon a’ drove Squire Withy’s teams + And many a turnip-load! + + + + +THE MALICE-DANCE + + + An intolerable singing + From an ancient haunted lawn + Where the ghost-moths whitely winging + Cross a moon-dial forlorn, + Drew me from you as you trifled + With the jasmin in your hair, + Dreaming that your beauty rifled + All my sense and held me there; + But I left you; and, escaping + With a lost tune in my head, + Set my memory reshaping + The old dances of the dead. + And the intolerable singing + Heard across that haunted lawn, + Drew me to the ghost-moths winging, + Round that moon-dial forlorn. + Over me the clouds were running + Races with the naked stars, + And dark Yews were making cunning + Love to whispering Deodars. + And the ghost-moths drugged my reason, + And I danced to that old tune + Malice dances full of treason + Round that dial of the moon! + + + + +CANDLE LIGHT + + + Hush, true Love, as we sit and think + And talk to shadows and watch the coals + Redden up from beyond the brink + Of the common reach of our souls. + + Do you not catch a cry in the air? + No! That is the wind in the chimney calling! + That is a curtain fluttering there! + That is a dead branch falling! + + Burning wood when candles are lit + Has a bitter-sweet breath that can carry far; + That can carry two lovers from where they sit + To the edge of the sea and over it + Where the unknown islands are. + + Burning wood has a wizard spell + Full of old sad stories and long-dead things; + Like myrrh and cassia is that smell, + From the sepulchres of kings. + + And whenever lovers like you and me + Sit together of a winter’s night, + There’s a cry on the wind, there’s a cry on the sea + There’s a tongue in the candlelight. + + And a great host gathers out of the dark + From wild far places, from sunk sea-walls, + From fallen roofs where hyænas bark + From ruined tents and kraals. + + It gathers towards us while you and I + Talk to old shadows and sit and stare, + And let time and space and the world go by + Like smoke upon the air. + + And as we gaze at the reddening coals + Lost in that amorous host are we; + That vast procession of lovers’ souls + Drowns our identity. + + A procession, divided like Plato’s dream, + But rushing together on a winter’s night, + When the casement shakes and the red coals gleam + And we kiss by candle light! + + + + +THE ECLIPSE + + + I said, Tonight is her plenilune, + And the wise astronomers held their peace, + I said, Tonight this naked moon + To her prisoned passion will give release; + And she shall gather the forests to her + And draw the oceans up to her breast. + The mountain-torrents shall leap to undo her, + And the virgin valleys shall be at rest: + And the fish from their fathomless feeding-ground + In finny circles shall upward move, + And the furry things at the lightest sound + Shall make the forest ache with love! + And fallen boughs that for centuries + Have dreamed, I said, of such a night + Shall feel in their mossy mortuaries + The living touch of her liquid light! + Great promontories, where dawn by dawn + Cormorants seeking the open sea + With yearning jet-black necks up-borne + Steer to the shoals of immensity, + Shall thrill as they feel that naked shape + Draw near with its luminous languorous power, + And over continent and cape + Float like an amorous lotus-flower. + Now, I said, with that moon at full, + While the wise astronomers kept them still, + Maids will grow more than beautiful, + And starved love-longings will have their will! + Now, I said, in this perfect night, + Lips that have paled and pined for passion + Will take at last their full delight + Mouth upon mouth in sweet lunar fashion! + Tonight is the night, I said to them all, + While the wise astronomers held their peace, + That Christ’s own cloak on Love shall fall + And let mortal longings have full release! + Then I looked up. Oh pity, oh loss + Irremediable! For behold the shade + Of our own dark planet crept across, + And on that glory its image laid. + Treachery in the heavens! It grew-- + That shadow of evil and suppression + Larger and larger with the smouldering hue + Of the old intolerable repression! + It grew like some monstrous shadow of doom + Crossing the threshold of a happy king + Who begins to reck that his bridal-room + Will be the place of his murdering! + Terribly, inch by inch it grew. + Carved with the ruinous runic scrolls + Of our ancient woe and well I knew + Betrayed once more were our human souls. + Treachery in the heavens! From land + And sea and every forest way, + From frightened pastures and darkened sand + Rose up a cry of wild dismay-- + And Christ bent down and hid His head; + And the haters of love laughed in their bed; + And “The Law is the law,” the astronomers said! + + + + +THE RIDER + + + On the horses of desire + Over the tossing trees + I have hunted the Pillar of + Fire + To his inmost fastnesses. + + On the eagles of despair + Where the thunders meet, + I have hunted the Powers of + the Air + To their last retreat. + + Over chasm and over crag + On the horned moon riding, + I have hunted the night-hag + To her furthest hiding. + + On the lions of exultation + I ride to my doom! + No tears of human desolation + Shall find my tomb. + + + + +WILLIAM CORBY + + + I drive my cows to Corby; + On sweet spring-grass they’re fed; + But it’s Madge who nestles wantonly + In William Corby’s bed. + + I drive my sheep to Corby, + And the gold-dust’s on the willow; + But it’s Nellie’s winsome curls that lie + On William Corby’s pillow. + + I drive my geese to Corby + When the bind-weed’s in the wheat; + But it’s Bess who cuddles warm and sly + ’Neath William Corby’s sheet. + + I drive my pigs to Corby; + And the hips and haws are red; + But none but me will mind o’ he + When William Corby’s dead! + + + + +TO A CERTAIN LADY + + + They tore her scarlet gown. + “What’s in a kiss?” she said-- + But they hunted her up and they hunted her down + From end to end of their moral town, + Till they left her there for dead. + + But the bleeding throat of her cry + Was heard in another place; + And those who are older than earth or sky-- + The austere ones of eternity ... + They knew her of their race. + + “What’s this?” they said. “For a kiss?” said they; + And they took the red from the dawn, + And they took the dance from the salt-sea spray, + And they took the purple out of the day, + And the yellow out of the corn. + + “Give her life, give her love, give her peace,” they said. + “Give her back her scarlet gown; + Or with ashes of death upon every head + Dead you shall skip to the tune of the dead + In your moral modern town!” + + + + +THE “DISASTER” + + + Without rudder, without sail + Drifts my soul, the brig “Disaster,” + And the madness of the gale + Takes the place of mate or master! + + Covered is its ghostly keel + With sea-slime, sea-weed, sea-crust; + And its bulkheads groan and reel; + And its bolts are caked with rust; + + Storm-tossed sea-gulls phantom-white + On the spars of the “Disaster” + Scream while the great winds of night + Drive the derelict still faster. + + And the drowned men floating deep + Leagues beneath that churning sea, + Mutter in their careless sleep, + “The brig ‘Disaster’ goes merrily!” + + And the brig “Disaster” drives right on, + Without captain, without mate, + Top-sails, bowsprit, compass gone, + Lost--exultant, desolate! + + + + +NOVEMBER + + + I will come back to you and you to me; + When the poplar-trees blow white and the rooks fly home, + And the fishermen draw their nets out of the sea; + I will come back to you and you to me. + + When across the flooded weirs the wild-fowl fly, + When the dead leaves fall from each remembered tree, + When over the withered grass the plovers cry, + I will come back to you and you to me. + + + + +BON ESPOIR Y GIST AU FOND! + + + One shimmering opal is all the air + And the sun like a young girl’s loosened hair + Covers with pools of liquid yellow + Window-sill, floor, and bed and pillow! + And I touch the secret--yet have it not. + It is--God! I’ve forgotten what-- + Yet the lovely madness wherewith we’re mad, + For no king’s penny is to be had! + Ha! Monsieur Maggot and my Lord Rat + More’s in this business than you guess at! + + The road-dust sleeps in the summer-heat + And the hot noon drowses on ripened-wheat, + And from weed to weed in the burnt-up grass + Heavy-winged butterflies flutter past. + Ha! Monsieur Maggot! Ha! my Lord Rat, + There’s more in this business than you guess at! + + The moon floats high like a silver barge, + And the bracken ferns grow strange and large, + And the bull-rushes forget to shiver + As she pours her magic on meadow and river; + And the tall pond-reeds, where the cattle cross, + Stand silent; and silent dreams the moss; + And the hazel-wood as the owl hoots by, + Is too moon-tranced to heed his cry-- + Ha! Monsieur Maggot and my Lord Rat, + Here’s something for you to squinny at! + We pine and pine--but by Holy Rood + There’s something here not understood-- + And we are not yet the Devil’s food! + + + + +Transcriber’s Notes + + +In the .txt version, surrounding characters have been used to indicate + _Italics_ and +Smallcaps+ +p. 20 removed opening quote before “And evil” + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79071 *** diff --git a/79071-h/79071-h.htm b/79071-h/79071-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..46c9571 --- /dev/null +++ b/79071-h/79071-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1531 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no,date=no,address=no,email=no,url=no"> + <title> + Samphire | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .5em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 0.25em; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} /* page numbers */ + +blockquote { + margin-top: 0; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} +.allsmcap {font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;} + +figcaption {font-weight: bold;} +figcaption p {margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: .2em; text-align: inherit;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +img.w100 {width: 100%;} + + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +/* Poetry */ +/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry */ +.poetry-container {display: flex; justify-content: center;} +.poetry-container {text-align: center;} +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} +.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} +.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} + +/* ******************** */ +/* BEGIN CUSTOMIZATIONS */ +/* ******************** */ + +/* Transcriber's notes (includes pagebreak before) */ +.transnote {background-color: #EAFEEA; + color: black; + font-size:small; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; + page-break-before: always; +} + +/* TOC */ +.toc-container { + display: flex; + justify-content: center; +} + +/* faux-h2 centered */ +.fh2 { + display: block; + font-size: x-large; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; +} + +/* faux-h3 centered */ +.fh3 { + display: block; + font-size: 1.17em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; +} + +/* illustrations */ +.illowp10 {width: 10%; max-width: 5em;} + + +/* Poetry indents */ +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3.0em;} +.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2.0em;} +.poetry .indent4 {text-indent: -1.0em;} +.poetry .indent22 {text-indent: 8.0em;} +.poetry .indent32 {text-indent: 13.0em;} + + </style> +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79071 ***</div> + +<main> + +<p class="fh2">SAMPHIRE</p> + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h1>SAMPHIRE</h1> +<br><br> +</div> + +<p class="fh3"><span class="smcap">by</span><br> +<span class="smcap">John Cowper Powys</span></p> +<br><br> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent32">“Half way down</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Hangs one that gathers Samphire, dreadful trade!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Methinks he seems no bigger than his head.”</div> + <div class="verse indent22">King Lear. Act IV. Scene VI.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +<br><br> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp10"> + <img class="w100" src="images/ts.jpg" alt="TS logo"> +</figure> +<br><br> + +<p class="center">NEW YORK<br> +THOMAS SELTZER<br> +1922</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center">Copyright, 1922, by +<span class="smcap">Thomas Seltzer, Inc.</span></p> +</div> + +<p class="center"><i>All rights reserved</i></p> +<br><br> + +<p class="center">PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center"> + DEDICATED TO LLEWELYN POWYS +</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS"> + CONTENTS + </h2> +</div> + + + + +<div class="toc-container"> +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> + <td class="tdl"></td> + <td class="tdr allsmcap">PAGE</td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Ultimate</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Demogorgon</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Old Pier-Post</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_6">6</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Castle of Gathore</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Twilight of the Gods</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Face</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Heron’s Nest</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Lubberlu</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Old Satyr to the Young Platonist</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Youth and Age</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Metaphysic</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Malice-Dance</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Candle Light</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Eclipse</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Rider</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">William Corby</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">To a Certain Lady</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The “Disaster”</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">November</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td> +</tr><tr> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Bon Espoir Y Gist Au Fond!</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="fh2"> + SAMPHIRE +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_ULTIMATE"> + THE ULTIMATE + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">So this is the ultimate—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That we bleed with our backs to the wall,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While the rats and weasels of fate</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Eat at our liver and gall;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Eat at our hearts with teeth of bane,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And tug at the sick white roots of pain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where every man’s alone,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And scrape a tune on the deep nerve-string</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That is love and life and everything,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And gnaw our flesh to the bone.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Is this the ultimate?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">No! This is nothing at all!</div> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>Some</i> human dramas stop with this;</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span> <div class="verse indent0">With this some curtains fall.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But the play that the high gods love</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In their Theatre of Space</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Has the mind, the mind for the stage thereof</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the soul for its dancing place!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Oh shapes of terror and fear,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Oh shapes of loathing and lust,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That gibber and jibe at us <i>here</i></div> + <div class="verse indent0">Ye break earth’s shallow crust.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Far back that stage recedes—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who knows where that stairway goes?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who knows where that passage leads?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And that door? Who knows? Who knows?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">For the rats that again and again</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Gnaw at each rib and joint</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of the vessel of our pain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stop gasping at this point;</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span> <div class="verse indent0">And in crowds they flee from the ship</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That steers for the open sea</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And turns the prow of its bleeding lip</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Towards eternity!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="DEMOGORGON"> + DEMOGORGON + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I am the Devil of Notre Dame.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Salaam!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I dance my dance and I work my charm.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Salaam!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I cling to terror by the hair of her head,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have taken Medusa to my bed.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I hug the Nightmare until she is dead.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Salaam!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Hush! By the Lord’s side I have stood—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Touch wood!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Before Orion rose out of the sky</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Rose I!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Before the Hunter hunted the Ram</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am the Demon of Socrates</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On your knees!</div> + </div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span> <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The oldest of the Eumenides—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The she-ape of Mephistopheles—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The deadly wind in Dodona’s trees—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The poisonous smoke ’twixt the Pythia’s knees—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am more terrible than these!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">In Jotunheim, Loki I’m called—</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Scald!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am Asmódéus in Babylon.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In Egypt I am Osiris’ son</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am many and I am One.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">At the Beginning I stood by the Lord</div> + <div class="verse indent0">God!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">At the last I shall be the Worm of the Pit</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Uncurled</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who swallows Him and who swallows It</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His World!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_OLD_PIER-POST"> + THE OLD PIER-POST + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I am the sea-ward-looking one,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Covered with weed and slime—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“Fresh fish for sale!”—of a row of posts,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That rotted by centuries nod like ghosts</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To the ebb and flow of time.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sea-tangle and sea-scum</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Will the Christ never come?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Two lovers that met at this ocean-mart,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With kissings and clingings pale</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Breaking the shell of a human heart</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And tearing its bleeding core apart,—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">—“Fresh fish, fresh fish for sale!”—</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Left a tress of shining hair on me;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And two sea-gulls that once were mates</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But were wrenched away by the blinding spray</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the unrelenting fates,</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Left a feather on me, a shining feather,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With sea-scum covered and scales</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of the mackerel bright they had caught together,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">—“Fresh fish for sale!”—in the wild storm-weather</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the fury of the gales.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And the terrible ultimate thought of one</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who had scooped at the shingle of things</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Till he’d taken the light from the kindly sun—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">—“Fresh fish for sale!”—and to death had done</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The light that the sweet moon brings,</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Graved itself on the grey sea-mark</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Wherewith with eyeless stare</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> <div class="verse indent0">I frown at the twilight and face the dark—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">—“Fresh fish for sale!”—and with forehead stark</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Confront a world’s despair.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">A shining tress, a feather, a thought—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With these I create a soul,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A soul that is not to be sold or bought;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Yes; I who am nought and less than nought—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">—“Fresh fish for sale!”—have <i>something</i> caught</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From the waters as they roll!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Yes; I, the sea-ward-looking one,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Covered with weed and slime,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Have gathered a soul to rest upon</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As I rock to the rhythm of time.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Bright hair, bright feather, brain-disease</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Blotting the sun and moon—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">If an old sea-pier steals a soul from these,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Christ <i>must</i> be coming soon!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_CASTLE_OF_GATHORE"> + THE CASTLE OF GATHORE + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">There is a place none knows but I—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The Castle of Gathore!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Black murky pools about it lie.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the trees are sick with its mystery;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And dead things are its floor.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Each tree with twisted root entwines</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The bones of older trees.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Moon after moon above them shines—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Beyond the moon—the Zodiac signs!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Beyond <i>them</i>—the Immensities!</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">None would think that ever such pools could be!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Black morgues of leafy doom,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where century after century</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Old forests find their tomb.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Oh terrible steps of leaf-mould sod</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Such as man never saw</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That mount up—holy Mother of God!—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To the Castle of Gathore!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And I alone—yes only I—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Under Algol and Altair—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When a new-born moon was in the sky</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Climbed up that mossy stair.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Old Cypress-roots of long decay</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Troubled my noiseless tread;</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Old Yews made midnight of the day</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As they met above my head.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Out of the trees, tier above tier,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Mossed stone above mossed stone,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Buttress on buttress, it towered there,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A Nightmare image, a thing of fear,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Revealed to me alone!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">My home! My home! To my heart I said—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My home! To my soul I cried—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From here have been wafted those airs of the dead</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That have driven my true love from my bed,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And my true love from my side!</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">This is what divides me from him and her</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the blessed light of the sun;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Till the eyes of Algol and of Altair</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Are my only benison!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">This is what they guessed when in dumb surprise</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They turned and let me pass—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">This is what they saw behind my eyes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like a phantom in a glass!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">They saw those towers; they saw those trees;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And I am alone once more—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Alone with the Immensities</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the Castle of Gathore!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_TWILIGHT_OF_THE_GODS"> + THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">In a long sad row the old gods come;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They come and bow to me.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like candle-flames in a raftered room,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like trees in an avenue of doom,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They bend in unity.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And a sound comes from them, a terrible sound,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like the wind in a tamarisk grove,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or a howl from some treacherous marshy ground</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where the swamp-demons move.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And in that moan is the cracking of sticks</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where Behemoth stalks thro’ the trees;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And in that moan is the flame that licks</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The knees of Rameses:</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And in that moan rocks Nineveh</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With her golden roofs and floors!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And in that moan quakes Babylon</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With her columned corridors!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">From my little green seat of piled-up sods</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like a dwarf on a churchyard mound</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I watch that row of bowing Gods</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And I hear that terrible sound.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">They nod and mutter; they sway and bend</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like monoliths of stone,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like huge gaunt birds on a branches’ end,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And as they bend they moan.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">They shiver like monstrous skeleton leaves;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They rattle like gibbets stark;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They reel like ruined autumn sheaves</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In the stubble of the dark.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Their eye-sockets are hollow and deep;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Their foreheads are cliffs of doom;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And they bleat at me like gigantic sheep</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That are herded in a tomb.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And very slowly I lift my head—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And slowly I lift my hand</div> + <div class="verse indent0">—And a row of horny beetles dead</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lie scattered in the sand!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_FACE"> + THE FACE + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">In the hollow spaces I see a face</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As I go whistling to my Dear,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And in those lineaments I trace</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The ultimate Fear.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Throned on the dark that face I see,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As I go whistling to my Doll;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of human terror the apogee—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fol-de-rol!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The wreckage of the whole damned race,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As I go whistling to my white bird,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is in that wavering ghastly face</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That speaks no word!</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Is that face moulded by treachery</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As I go whistling to my Poll,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And carved by lust out of lechery?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fol-lol-de-rol!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Has it woven itself out of ancient sorrows</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As I go whistling to my maid,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Out of all the To-days that to all the To-morrows</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Shriek—“betrayed!”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I like not to see that face in the night,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As I go whistling to my own:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A terrible face for the sweet moonlight</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To shine upon!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">But as long as those lips utter no sound,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As I go whistling to my Troll,</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> <div class="verse indent0">All is yet well above the ground,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fol-lol-de-rol!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Oh white, white lips that hang so mute,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As I go whistling to my Love,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That ultimate Fear would be absolute</div> + <div class="verse indent0">If you should move!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_HERONS_NEST"> + THE HERON’S NEST + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The World-Mother sits on her sky-blue eggs—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“A mare’s nest!” cries the minstrel, laughing.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“Her wings are lovely—but what of her legs?”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Cries the youngest page to the courtiers scoffing.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“A wicked bird,” cries the mitred priest—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“To lay blue eggs and to sit on them!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Blue is no colour for bird or beast</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Blue is the colour of our Lady’s hem.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“A shameless bird!” cries the old queen mother,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“Eggs should be mottled white, not blue.”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“A pox on the bird!” cries the old king’s brother—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“There’s no such bird!” cry the courtier crew.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Home from hunting returned the King—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">White as a young birch-tree was he.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“Ye are all of you plotting a curséd thing!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And evil is your conspiracy!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“I have seen the World-Mother upon her nest;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have seen those eggs, blue as the sky;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And for what I have seen I would give the rest</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of my kingdom; and willingly die!”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And the minstrel winked at the youngest page;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the old queen pinched the fool;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the mitred priest to hide his rage</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Grinned at them like a ghoul.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Down on your knees to the great World-Mother!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">’Tis I, your King, who begs.”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But they stood stock-still and stared at each other—“The</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> <div class="verse indent0">King is mad,” cried the old king’s brother.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“I’ve traveled the world from one end to another—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Those eggs are Heron’s eggs!”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">From the walls of the Madhouse upon the hill,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When this traveler came to be crowned</div> + <div class="verse indent0">At the Queen’s and the Priest’s and the Courtier’s will,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There fell a curious sound—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A sound that was like the flapping of wings;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And a radiant voice that was like the King’s!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="LUBBERLU"> + LUBBERLU + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Green were her eyes,—yellow were her eyes—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Her eyes were like withered sedge!”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">—“This is holy Mass and the hour flies</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And there is red in the church-yard hedge.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Raise me aloft my taper’s flame,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Light me my candles three,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For I must call on the Baby’s name</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who is born to young Mary!”—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“O father, I see a blood-red streak</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In the reeds where first I caught her—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And I hear a cry makes my heart weak—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And turns my bones to water.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The marsh-bittern and lone curlew</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That cry comes not from them—”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">—“Bring me bread and wine my Lubberlu,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And hold my vestments’ hem!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The candles burn—The oxen kneel.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Boy, bring me my holy book—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Born is the King of Israel!”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">—“Oh father, my father, look!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“She is pressing her face ’gainst the window-pane,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where the saints stare in a row</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And her lips are red with the morning’s stain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And her cheeks are white like snow!”—</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">—“’Tis Christmas morn and the mass unsung</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For the Baby of young Mary!”—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But the idiot-boy from his side had sprung.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">At the window prone was he.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And the oxen knelt in their frozen shed</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the sheep in their hurdled pen;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But Lubberlu lay stark and dead,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He never will come again.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">They sign his breast and they sign his brow</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the cross to which they pray—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But two lost souls are flying now</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Over the reeds and over the snow,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Over the hills and away.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_OLD_SATYR_TO_THE_YOUNG_PLATONIST"> + THE OLD SATYR TO THE YOUNG PLATONIST + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Go and get a monk for a lover,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And let me quietly sit</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On this warm stone which the lichens cover.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have had enough of it!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Did the high gods carve your polished flanks</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And make liquid your hazel eyes,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That two should stand on a river’s banks</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And offer up the scurvy thanks</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of being over wise?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Let me alone. I have heard your tale,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">How Love is this and how Love is that.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Is not milk still white in the pail</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And wine still red in the vat?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I would have gathered you moschatel,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Wood-spurge, wood-sorel, wood-saxifrage!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When the moon rode forth I’d have taught you to tell</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Every star in her equipage!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Because I’d loved you with satyr passion</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Were that a reason I should not keep</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Tenderness in my goat-foot fashion,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And watch beside your sleep?</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The oldest of Centaurs is my brother—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The wild wood-ways are in my blood—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My mother was the great earth-mother—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Yet I can love you as well as another</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For all my satyrhood!</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Go find your friend. I have pride of my own,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But every noon I’ll sit</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On this warm lichen-covered stone,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And perhaps you’ll come back to it!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Perhaps when they <i>talk</i> of Love one day</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In their high platonic hall,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You will curse their chatter and flee away</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And find your Satyr’s grave and say,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“His love was best of all!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="YOUTH_AND_AGE"> + YOUTH AND AGE + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“O wanton youth, this wind was not</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Over common highways blown</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From gardens far from here—God wot!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It has caught that plaintive tone.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Listen! But ah! It touches you not!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Listen! But ah! I had forgot—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The heart of youth is stone.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Did you not know such places were?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lovely are they and few,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The gardens that breathe such perfumed air!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Listen! But what care you?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Over many a moon-lit terraced spot</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It has come to claim its own</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Over Marjoram and Melilot,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Over London Pride and Bergamot,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It has come to trouble, doubt it not,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">All hearts save those of stone!”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">—“I like not this breath in the swaying grasses!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I like not that shadow on the rustling trees!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I <i>suspect</i> that wind as it softly passes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Back to its garden of memories!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Your walled-up pansies are faded and sere;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Your dark parterres of cypress-green</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Make the very lizards listen in fear</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of phantom footsteps and forms unseen.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Your fountains are choked with hemlock weeds,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The toad croaks there and the night-owls call.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There are wandering dandelion-seeds</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where red rose-petals were wont to fall!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Oh woe-begone one, you can tempt me not</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> <div class="verse indent0">With your proud sad gardens, your wind that sighs,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Your Mignonette and your Melilot!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The heart of youth is wise.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="METAPHYSIC"> + METAPHYSIC + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Dearie I! When I up and follows</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Grand-dad Cooper’s cross-cut road,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The road that from Hawk’s Hill to Green Lane Hollows</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is nought but rabbits and cuckoos and swallows</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And fields with turnip sowed,</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Dearie I! the road that over</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Badger’s Warren and Turnstile Hill</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Skirts park-fence by Witham’s Cover,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where old man Rob caught young Nell’s lover,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And leads to Dead Man’s Mill,</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Dearie I! I do stop and hear</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Out of wind a terrible sound;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And Almighty, he do whisper clear</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like a girt wold owl long-side my ear—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“Nancy girl, this be holy ground!”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Dearie I! And he says to me—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“You’ve been here, Nancy, long ere this!”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And he lifts the veil of his mystery</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From the face of his abyss.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And high Hawk Hill and Green Lane Hollows</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Grow only dreams that I have dreamed;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And Grand-dad’s road with its cuckoos and swallows,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The road an old fox-bitch still follows,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is a fairy-place that only seemed!</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And Dead Man’s Mill grows doubly dead,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For its old-time pond of terribleness,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And him it drowned, like mists are fled!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And nought bides there but nothingness!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Gone, gone—all gone—shadows and dreams!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dearie I! and ’twere Grand-dad’s road</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whereon a’ drove Squire Withy’s teams</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And many a turnip-load!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_MALICE-DANCE"> + THE MALICE-DANCE + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">An intolerable singing</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From an ancient haunted lawn</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where the ghost-moths whitely winging</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Cross a moon-dial forlorn,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Drew me from you as you trifled</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the jasmin in your hair,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dreaming that your beauty rifled</div> + <div class="verse indent0">All my sense and held me there;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But I left you; and, escaping</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With a lost tune in my head,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Set my memory reshaping</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The old dances of the dead.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the intolerable singing</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Heard across that haunted lawn,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Drew me to the ghost-moths winging,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Round that moon-dial forlorn.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Over me the clouds were running</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Races with the naked stars,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And dark Yews were making cunning</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Love to whispering Deodars.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the ghost-moths drugged my reason,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And I danced to that old tune</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Malice dances full of treason</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Round that dial of the moon!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CANDLE_LIGHT"> + CANDLE LIGHT + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Hush, true Love, as we sit and think</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And talk to shadows and watch the coals</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Redden up from beyond the brink</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of the common reach of our souls.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Do you not catch a cry in the air?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">No! That is the wind in the chimney calling!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That is a curtain fluttering there!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That is a dead branch falling!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Burning wood when candles are lit</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Has a bitter-sweet breath that can carry far;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That can carry two lovers from where they sit</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span> <div class="verse indent0">To the edge of the sea and over it</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where the unknown islands are.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Burning wood has a wizard spell</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Full of old sad stories and long-dead things;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like myrrh and cassia is that smell,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From the sepulchres of kings.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And whenever lovers like you and me</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sit together of a winter’s night,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There’s a cry on the wind, there’s a cry on the sea</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There’s a tongue in the candlelight.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And a great host gathers out of the dark</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From wild far places, from sunk sea-walls,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From fallen roofs where hyænas bark</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From ruined tents and kraals.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">It gathers towards us while you and I</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Talk to old shadows and sit and stare,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And let time and space and the world go by</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like smoke upon the air.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And as we gaze at the reddening coals</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lost in that amorous host are we;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That vast procession of lovers’ souls</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Drowns our identity.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">A procession, divided like Plato’s dream,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But rushing together on a winter’s night,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When the casement shakes and the red coals gleam</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And we kiss by candle light!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_ECLIPSE"> + THE ECLIPSE + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I said, Tonight is her plenilune,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the wise astronomers held their peace,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I said, Tonight this naked moon</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To her prisoned passion will give release;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And she shall gather the forests to her</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And draw the oceans up to her breast.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The mountain-torrents shall leap to undo her,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the virgin valleys shall be at rest:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the fish from their fathomless feeding-ground</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In finny circles shall upward move,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the furry things at the lightest sound</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Shall make the forest ache with love!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And fallen boughs that for centuries</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Have dreamed, I said, of such a night</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Shall feel in their mossy mortuaries</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The living touch of her liquid light!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Great promontories, where dawn by dawn</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Cormorants seeking the open sea</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With yearning jet-black necks up-borne</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Steer to the shoals of immensity,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Shall thrill as they feel that naked shape</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Draw near with its luminous languorous power,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And over continent and cape</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Float like an amorous lotus-flower.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Now, I said, with that moon at full,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While the wise astronomers kept them still,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Maids will grow more than beautiful,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And starved love-longings will have their will!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Now, I said, in this perfect night,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lips that have paled and pined for passion</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Will take at last their full delight</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Mouth upon mouth in sweet lunar fashion!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Tonight is the night, I said to them all,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While the wise astronomers held their peace,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That Christ’s own cloak on Love shall fall</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And let mortal longings have full release!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then I looked up. Oh pity, oh loss</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Irremediable! For behold the shade</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of our own dark planet crept across,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And on that glory its image laid.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Treachery in the heavens! It grew—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That shadow of evil and suppression</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Larger and larger with the smouldering hue</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of the old intolerable repression!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It grew like some monstrous shadow of doom</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Crossing the threshold of a happy king</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who begins to reck that his bridal-room</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Will be the place of his murdering!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Terribly, inch by inch it grew.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Carved with the ruinous runic scrolls</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of our ancient woe and well I knew</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Betrayed once more were our human souls.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Treachery in the heavens! From land</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And sea and every forest way,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From frightened pastures and darkened sand</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Rose up a cry of wild dismay—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And Christ bent down and hid His head;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the haters of love laughed in their bed;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And “The Law is the law,” the astronomers said!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_RIDER"> + THE RIDER + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">On the horses of desire</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Over the tossing trees</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have hunted the Pillar of</div> + <div class="verse indent4">Fire</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To his inmost fastnesses.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">On the eagles of despair</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where the thunders meet,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have hunted the Powers of</div> + <div class="verse indent4">the Air</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To their last retreat.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Over chasm and over crag</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On the horned moon riding,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have hunted the night-hag</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To her furthest hiding.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">On the lions of exultation</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I ride to my doom!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">No tears of human desolation</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Shall find my tomb.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="WILLIAM_CORBY"> + WILLIAM CORBY + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I drive my cows to Corby;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On sweet spring-grass they’re fed;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But it’s Madge who nestles wantonly</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In William Corby’s bed.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I drive my sheep to Corby,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the gold-dust’s on the willow;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But it’s Nellie’s winsome curls that lie</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On William Corby’s pillow.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I drive my geese to Corby</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When the bind-weed’s in the wheat;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But it’s Bess who cuddles warm and sly</div> + <div class="verse indent0">’Neath William Corby’s sheet.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I drive my pigs to Corby;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the hips and haws are red;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But none but me will mind o’ he</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When William Corby’s dead!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="TO_A_CERTAIN_LADY"> + TO A CERTAIN LADY + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">They tore her scarlet gown.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“What’s in a kiss?” she said—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But they hunted her up and they hunted her down</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From end to end of their moral town,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Till they left her there for dead.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">But the bleeding throat of her cry</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Was heard in another place;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And those who are older than earth or sky—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The austere ones of eternity ...</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They knew her of their race.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“What’s this?” they said. “For a kiss?” said they;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And they took the red from the dawn,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And they took the dance from the salt-sea spray,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And they took the purple out of the day,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the yellow out of the corn.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Give her life, give her love, give her peace,” they said.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“Give her back her scarlet gown;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or with ashes of death upon every head</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dead you shall skip to the tune of the dead</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In your moral modern town!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_DISASTER"> + THE “DISASTER” + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Without rudder, without sail</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Drifts my soul, the brig “Disaster,”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the madness of the gale</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Takes the place of mate or master!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Covered is its ghostly keel</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With sea-slime, sea-weed, sea-crust;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And its bulkheads groan and reel;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And its bolts are caked with rust;</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Storm-tossed sea-gulls phantom-white</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On the spars of the “Disaster”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Scream while the great winds of night</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Drive the derelict still faster.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And the drowned men floating deep</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Leagues beneath that churning sea,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Mutter in their careless sleep,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“The brig ‘Disaster’ goes merrily!”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And the brig “Disaster” drives right on,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Without captain, without mate,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Top-sails, bowsprit, compass gone,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lost—exultant, desolate!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="NOVEMBER"> + NOVEMBER + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I will come back to you and you to me;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When the poplar-trees blow white and the rooks fly home,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the fishermen draw their nets out of the sea;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I will come back to you and you to me.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">When across the flooded weirs the wild-fowl fly,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When the dead leaves fall from each remembered tree,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When over the withered grass the plovers cry,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I will come back to you and you to me.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="BON_ESPOIR_Y_GIST_AU_FOND"> + BON ESPOIR Y GIST AU FOND! + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">One shimmering opal is all the air</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the sun like a young girl’s loosened hair</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Covers with pools of liquid yellow</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Window-sill, floor, and bed and pillow!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And I touch the secret—yet have it not.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">It is—God! I’ve forgotten what—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Yet the lovely madness wherewith we’re mad,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For no king’s penny is to be had!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Ha! Monsieur Maggot and my Lord Rat</div> + <div class="verse indent0">More’s in this business than you guess at!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The road-dust sleeps in the summer-heat</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the hot noon drowses on ripened-wheat,</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> <div class="verse indent0">And from weed to weed in the burnt-up grass</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Heavy-winged butterflies flutter past.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Ha! Monsieur Maggot! Ha! my Lord Rat,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There’s more in this business than you guess at!</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The moon floats high like a silver barge,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the bracken ferns grow strange and large,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the bull-rushes forget to shiver</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As she pours her magic on meadow and river;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the tall pond-reeds, where the cattle cross,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stand silent; and silent dreams the moss;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the hazel-wood as the owl hoots by,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Is too moon-tranced to heed his cry—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Ha! Monsieur Maggot and my Lord Rat,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Here’s something for you to squinny at!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">We pine and pine—but by Holy Rood</div> + <div class="verse indent0">There’s something here not understood—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And we are not yet the Devil’s food!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="transnote"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_Notes"> + Transcriber’s Notes + </h2> +<p> + <span style="margin-left: 1.0em;"><a href="#Page_20">p. 20</a> removed opening quote before “And evil”</span> +</p> +</div> +</main> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79071 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/79071-h/images/cover.jpg b/79071-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d38d82 --- /dev/null +++ b/79071-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/79071-h/images/ts.jpg b/79071-h/images/ts.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a3fedb5 --- /dev/null +++ b/79071-h/images/ts.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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