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BY
tflttur,
bona omnia,
et
in quifeue eitctnts
nostra
canmtit, sacramentig
quibuetjam sensi&ilibug gtgnis tecta ac tnijoluta esse." Speculum Domini Joannis Rusbrochii
LONDON
PHILIP SINCLAIR
WELLBY
MDCCCCVl
CONTENTS
PART
I
SHADOWS OF SACRAMENTS
THE ARGUMENT
A. Ground Plans of begins to realise that he
that he
man
and
normally
in a
dreaming
is
state
must be aroused
to attain himself,
he
to consider the mysteries of his sleep, the greater and lesser also, with the manifestations thereto belonging, and it is in this manner to the interpretation of his dreams. the general thesis of the dream-life, including certain vestiges, which are memories, of all that which is without
that he
becomes dedicated
is
Herein therefore
It is in this
it.
quest.
his
way that a man awakens to the first sense of the Being thus already in part illuminated, he puts in order plans for the improvement of his symbolic position. He
beholds indeed the first shining of the sacramental life, through which the rivers of sleep may become to him even as fountains of refreshment, and his environment as a Promise of May. There is torpor and there is inhibition, but there are also suggestions of states that have rewards beyond the dreams of avarice. A man is in eftect already a Postulant at the Pronaos of the Temple.
B.
takes thought of Nature and her sacramental service, discovering after what manner some strange suspensions operate. Herein is
full of the palmary messages promulgated by These are Watches of the Morning, wherein the insufficiency of Nature is made evident. A man has tried the normal ways and has not found satisfaction. Where are the Wings of Healing ? Amid such preludes and pastorals of the world which leads to nothing in the realm of fragilities and the Trivia; he has met with certain mercies and judgments and has
the consideration in
vii
M'674647
Contents
become
tions
in
a neophyte of the Lesser Mysteries, which are as InstrucEarly Alphabets for some who are learning to read.
They
C.
first
are also forms of dejection and yet of illumination. Liber Amoris Sanctissim^. A man is also visited by
the
passing into Vision through the mediation of Human Love and the offices of daughters of desire, even He enters, therefore, after another as by the spirit and the bride. manner, into the essence of the sacramental system, which determines true inferences on validity and quest. These are Mysteries of Seeking, Mirrors of Knighthood, the First Elevation of the Host in the Church Visible of the natural world, the first conpontificals of
Dream
sciousness of
Many
Presences.
here recited in a loud voice after new Matins, with the Little Office of the Virgo Intacta. But the days are rogation days. D. Legends of the Great Mystery. A man passes through grades and ministries of the world's legends, which are
of the
of the Cross.
is
way
Legends
fables of sleeping
men,
stories of lights
;
that
fail,
yet in their
;
manner ceremonies
of initiation
the mysteries of expiation and dejection, ending " I must have Thee." These are hauntings of the places of quest phantoms of vision ; and in this grade a man is the Master of Cere-
monies, rather than the Master of the House. Legends of the Soul and certain Propers of Saints.
E. of
Here
also are
is in fine
visited
He is spheres sounds him to the advance. drenched with the greatness and bitterness of the quest. He is conscious of a cloud of witnesses. A man becomes the Keeper of
many
the Lesser Mysteries.
PAGE
ALTERNATION
excuse to distract from Eternity.
ONE REFUGE
An
alternative of Nature
and Imagination,
viii
Contents
FLIGHT
Many
doors stand open.
I'AGF.
GREAT SILENCES
The ends
and
are not less certain because they are hidden
far
,i
away.
....
....
it is
12
15
IN
SILENCE
18
Dream.
ig
is
also
....
21
their Substitutes.
24
25
silent,
Organs are
the Master.
HEMLOCK
The path of Poisoned Flowers
ix
is
3g
also a true path.
Contents
PAGE
28
31
AT THAT DOOR
Some houses
way both
are inhibited because the place and the
suffer misconstruction.
JT 3
34
way of regeneration
is
through the
gate of birth.
ILLUMINATION
An Aurca
Calena
35
Hemic tica.
38
A DIRGE AT SEA
Loss and Gain are both precious, but both can be
appraised falsely.
A DREAM OF JUNE
Shadows
of Roses.
40
A GREY WORLD
Beyond the ken
of Angels.
43
WHITHER?
The
Stars know.
46
DISTRACTION
For which reason, we prepare
to
4'3
depart hence.
Contents
IMMANENCE
All pageants signify the
'^48
One
Presence.
A FREE
WAY
cover
us.
.q
Of Wings which
A NIGHT PIECE
The Landmarks
also are Watchers.
51
SEASONS
Yearnings for the Holy Place.
52
52
is
Hallows
in the
need of our
enchantment.
BENISONS
The
ministers are
c-'
priest
is
in fine one.
SUSPIRIUM
Love
is
54
is
also justified,
and
yet the
many
ways.
A LADDER OF LIFE
Of going up
to the
56
5g
61
64
turn to ashes before
xi
Contents
PAGE
WATERS OF CREATION
The
outside world does not
64
cannot withdraw
it.
LOSS
AND GAIN
A
better refuge
65
and a guidance.
66
also the
Holy
Place.
FRAGMENTUM
The most
difficult
67
of
all trysts is
that of a
man and
his soul.
VIATICUM A Hallow
69
for the
House of
Loss.
OTHER MANHOODS
All
life
is
70
in
humanity
one of
its
processes.
OF CONSUMMATION
Abstinence
the
is
72
is
not after
manner of a
IN
ANY GARDEN
This also
is
73
THE
KING'S
Its
SECRET
74
75
HAUNTINGS
The Law
of Charity
is
76
also that of the Union,
xii
Contents
THE BRIDAL JOURNEY
Of
returning thither.
PAGB
77
DREAMS OF DEATH
Of one who being dead
yet testifies in dream.
78
WORLDS OF DREAM
Of Pageant and
Reality.
82
IN
33
A HARD SAYING
An
Indirection concerning Divine Love.
84
......
the
traveller
in
85
HOW
IT
88
TO OTHER ENDS
An
.......
is
90
BURDENS OF BABYLON
Loss
is
91
the
All.
ONWARD
That which
is
"
93
is
not so
much
GABRIEL A Mystery
93
An
exotic of love.
Contents
PACK
MIRRORS OF MANHOOD
Nature
itself is
96
our
made
in
own
likeness.
SEVEN WATCHERS
The world goes by
in the
98
morning.
LOOKING WESTWARD
The
place of the heights
possible.
is
loi
that which
is
always
102
is
he speaks.
105
man
is
somnam-
bulism.
109
Love.
no
Temple
is
path of all.
A RITE OF EXALTATION
There
is
112
to the
Holy Palace.
115
PLAY SCENES
The
things which speak for themselves are few only.
ABSOLUTION
The word
of forgiveness
is
115
the
word
in chief of the
Gospel.
xiv
Contents
FACE
VEILS OF
ISIS
to
119
be unclothed.
119
INSUFFICIENCY
There are certain
fine revolts.
light foods
in
A CONFIDENCE
Gifts
121
are
certain
HOW
IT IS
is
ATTAINED
IN
THE SUNSET
122
PLUMES OF SABLE
But
in
125
the
the
end
know
.
of
it.
.125
Those who have put it on record that Love is enough, designed when they wrote Love to express God.
GROUNDS OF UNION
If
it
129
were possible
for
God
to
mean
grew fonder.
131
THEOPHANY
When He comes
beginning.
to
His own
it
is
Him
but this
also in the
134
who
see nothing.
THE PATH
It
is
135
circle of necessity is that
VALE
XV
138
Contents
PART
II
THE ARGUMENT
numerous as the legends of life, and it does not appear, except in the Greater Mysteries, after what manner, life having been exchanged for death, there is, in fine, a high restitution, so that once and for ever death is merged Herein now is an Interlude of the Lesser Mysteries, in life. a story without an end, where the Veil is indeed declared, but
of death are as
The legends
not
lifted.
A man
as one
who
witnesses a play-scene
....
139-197
PART
III
THE ARGUMENT
A man
passes through a further degree of his reception and
thus attains
more
light
his
Mass
in the great
palace of
the hierarchy.
He
considers the
official religions
they must never be forsaken, yet they also are only a partial experience.
It is
possible to assist at
Mass and
also to serve
notlife
the
heights
has read
of God.
into
is
all
the missals,
making many
is
uncanonical rubrics.
called the
Herein
House
xvi
Contents
PAGE
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
210
211
212 213
214
215
216
217
219
220
221
222 223
224
225
TRUE POSSESSIONS
EXPRESSION
TWO DESTINIES
VENITE PROBATION INTERDICTION
xvii
226
227
228 229
Contents
PAGE
THE UNITIES
MISFITS
230
231
.
JOURNEYS IN THE BLUE DISTANCE RESTORATION SECRET SONG THE DAY AFTER FACILIS ASCENSUS
.232
233
234
235
236 236
237
240
: . .
.241
242
243
243
THE KINGDOM
FELLOWSHIP THE BETTER WAY EUCHARISTICA MISDIRECTION STARS OF EMPIRE
244
24s
246 246
247
248
UNDECLARED
GRATIAS AGIMUS OF PRIESTCRAFT
249
250
251
XVUl
Contents
PART
IV
THE BOOK OF THE KING'S DOLE AND CHANTRY FOR PLAIN SONG A GREATER INITIATION
:
THE ARGUMENT
Having been
is
oft
is
born
in
many
initiations,
man
takes the
This
there
many Great
manner
awakening from dream, and the Wardens of the Watch-Towers of the World shall not tell after what manner the great sea shall in fine give up the secret.
comes
PAGE
PROEM TO THE KING'S DOLE .255 PEOPLE OF THE MYSTERY .259 CEREMONY OF OPENING THE CHANTRY 261 RITUAL OF THE LIFTING OF THE VEIL
. .
The
Gods
272
Raising in Dark304
Institution
in 308
KING'S
316
323
PART
SHADOWS OF SACRAMENTS
in the
Home
And
for
name
and
frighten'd haste-
Something impels to build him in the waste A temporary house of his own hands To overlook the melancholy lands
And
all his
Wherefore, when
About his soul inhibited he wrought A body fitted to the halting thought
Of those who
Praying,
if
long,
may
be also deep,
Yet counting
And
He
built
to hold
Came through
His haunted
Still cried
soul,
aloud that
fate,
of
made
therein he laid
;
there a
foeman
set
Which when
And
But the House of Pride High did he raise, and therein magnified The hopes and works beguiling his distress
nothing written.
this
Yet
So passing thence to where some false lights shone, He raised up Houses of Ambition, But through the portals and the windows pour'd
The
And
Where hands on
dust;"
And though
Sound
"
Come away
rise.
"
!
day
us wise
The transient buildings round about One bond connects them in fantastic
Houses of Sleep they
Devoted
are, to
anxious dreams
Dim
Is
pageantries advance,
sense enrings.
And
no one wakes of
all
whom
secret things
Through
all
strange seizures
still
it
speaks with
power,
And
Are haply drawing to the waking gate. Unfold, Peace on the Houses of their trance Dawn, on their tarnish'd eyes, thy wells of gold
!
And
past
all
ALTERNATION
I
Thou
One
And
When
Hear me
below
II
Day and night adjuring thee By the secret word it sings, Take too far from human things
For
a little space apart
Hear the
singing in
my
heart
Or
So
if things eternal
make
much music
Hearken, from thy seat above. The still vaster deep of love
!
FLIGHT
ONE REFUGE
When
To
our conventions' sad calamity
Shall after weary days our path permit
issue undeterr'd
and
?
free,
What
then remains
Or
fair
Romance
it
FLIGHT
I
SOOTHED
a bird
JVhy does a
Thou
Safe in a
bower he was
is
set to rest
What
tell.
He
in a lichen nest
The
bird flew out through a door ajar
the soul
High sounds
his
star
voice of freedom
Thou
Perchance
canst not
tell.
why
all
Where
When
Through
retreat
tell.
THE SECOND
Reneiv d for ever are
the lives
SENSE
of hooks
;
By
And many
Nature and
In
still
charm
it
thence
The purports deep by which the soul is stirr'd Lurk not within the manifested word, As many intimations dimly show, Directing higher search to those who know.
Within ourselves the secret meaning lies, And till we read it there with our own eyes We miss those heights we dream of and grow lean
after things
unseen
Symbolic
We give
in
that
meaning shapes
our wit.
it
We take
And
so
Word
In strange metathesis,
all
we wear on
:
any point expel. We say the word is lost but who shall tell A few fond souls proclaim For who has found Their mission to make known its scope and aim
trace of
.?
.''
"
As
if
Or
The deep
tarns of silence leap
Are
neither
testifies
new nor
:
we
yearn'd.
One
"
The dead
Him
!
abide
And His
One
Says
forgiveness sets all wrath aside." " Sweet sleep " One, with bended whispers
:
head.
:
Bread
of joy
"
One
" Here
is
Living
And Of
and
!
sweetness,
breathes
" Be
then
consoled
all still
Of
So leave
1
therefore, friends
it
with one
last
word
also leave
thus
Which lies for ever the bright veils behind Of all the books of Nature and of Mind,
Eluding
did
all
approximating
art,
Shall yield to
heart.
this
From
That
mystery
And
Most
truly feel
it
end of end and all in all. If things so many underneath the sun Thus lead me ever to the arms of One, Ye who do likewise strongly yearn, forgive
Turn
So much, without distortion or offence, man may venture towards the second
sense.
Go on reflecting heaven beyond is God And 'twixt the gentleness of Nature's state And the unsleeping heights, His people wait.
;
all seas
untrod
Great
is the ministry of books^ and great Their consolation in our mean estate ;
But hearts whose aches prolong with every heat^ Find them, like Natures breathings, incomplete.
GREAT SILENCES
Ah,
sighing grass
life
!
Ah,
trees that
know not
afar,
rest
All
Heart's flight of
What go
ye forth
man and hurry of every star to find } Where ends your quest
1
.?
CUPS
THAT
PASS IN
THE NIGHT
to divell.
The
stories
to tell
And maxims
Could any
scribe
have folloiv
d us
hoiv great
Were
and
late.
And
Who
Sees
it is
own body
in
lying there.
And,
in confusion, calls
As boon companions
sorry rout.
So chaos moved, distracted in the night, Conceiving horror of its depth and height,
Saw
!-
Made
light appear.
12
CUPS
THAT PASS
IN
Then all great forces strove its As travellers at an inn the cups of each And Tohu held with Bohu orgie high, From which creation, full of silver speech,
Sprang by and bye.
Then
As
feasting princes
who
And
upon
rapture's wing,
As wine
lifts love.
And
As
still
And
From
the Cosmos, in
its
Moenad dance.
We
We
From
And
that
raise
which Nature sketches in first place through purlieus out of bar and ban
gifts
Towards
of grace.
friend, alone,
And drank
So to true
were dead
13
as
any stone
Or
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
But now through purple hours of Bacchic night
We
We,
like the
morning
stars,
together sing,
What
time
in
And
as creation,
Moves grandly forward, fill'd with high content, We, slowly down the road of years withdrawn.
Note from each tavern where the night Each breaking dawn.
is
spent
ways be long
the
stars
cups
pass
too
among
is
!
en-
crown'd
The
ecstasy
is
great, the
wine
strong,
What
14
THE SCARLET SWAN
Or waking, as of eyes in earthly ways, Under the crimson splendours of the morn,
But something greater which from both
is
born
And
Now list That Madeline of white and red Rose blooms was wrought, who doubts ? The wise
!
have said
And
parables aver.
loves so well to brood thereon
But all of scarlet was the Flying Swan Which, on the day that Madeline was made, God in such glory of bright plumes array'd,
And
Saying
Dear
15
Scarlet Swan, and ever and anon, Athwart his path, the comets with a crash Hurtle, the falling meteors seethe and flash
upon the
light,
Pours floods of
Dark worlds,
And where
Show
speeds.
in
starry seeds
myriad
of
light,
swift-wing'd,
he
A
I
? For deep rest indeed dreaming of the waters cool. The clear brown stillness of some shaded pool, nest engirded by a world of reed ?
know
at least,
fix'd before,
And
He labours night and day to reach his end On Madeline, of Mary's gift, alone.
As
legends
tell,
wings depend.
The Scarlet Swan to Mary's gift is bound With her it rests that he shall reach his end
If she
on earth
is
full
of goodness found,
gift aspires to
Mary's throne,
i6
; ;
She stoops awhile, sad is the wanderer's fate His flagging wings athwart the stir and stress
Of
With
Alone,
Mary's
gift
what weariness
Now, therefore, Madeline shall, inly stirr'd. By this most faithful legend's secret word,
Reflect for ever in her heart thereon.
That
so
all
Swan
is
With winds
that favour,
till
he reach where
Spirit
joy
the refuge of
:
a restful town.
under crown,
the pains,
rest
Saying
Dear
a
God applaud
;
heart, be
welcome
and
remains
Stars,
and
thousand
stars,
lilac lift
God
17
IN
SILENCE
;
To wake at length they grant who reign above And many substitutes for rest high schemes
Dispense,
till
move
To
They
free us
Alone can break the bars and bonds of spell But surely comes the wakening at last,
When
As
each to each of
And
exile, far
away,
in sleep
We
we writhed
repay
of true
life
divinely deep.
i8
day
!
in circles
Dear
thy nest
;
The stream
left
it
down, is brown,
glows,
With
silver streak'd
upon the
Made
broad by
summer
floods.
blows.
The road is white in front, and blue thou art, O summer sky Thy beauty takes the heart. What gleams high up on yonder distant hill, This moment brought in view ? The white road still
!
And
But
feel the
And
we must take turns there aside Wide uplands slope upon the left and right. The trees grow thicker towards the airy height
that which
We
shall pass
The quickset hedge will part, the path will Our steps a little into bower and brake, Then into forest shade and mystery. So, if we miss the heights we yet shall see
take
What revelations may, in glades conceal'd And sudden clearings, be to eye reveal'd
19
when
Feel what
And why
moon
from the wilderness more to wind and sky. There, over pleasant meadows, soaring high The peak again invites the climber's feet. So we who have explored the green retreat And something of its lesser secrets learn'd, Lose nothing from our course a moment turn'd,
gaily
And
still
rest to
climb
To-day, to-morrow, or
in after time.
20
nuptials
and
thejlesh shall
know
Whatjlesh can learn of unions here leloiv But the soul coming from some far-offplace,
Hath look' d not yet upon the bridegroom' s face. And therefore goeth sadly here along.
Give up,
void of voids, the marriage song
I
Above
Call us
and
their noise.
''Whom God
Granting
for wonder,
who
doubts
room
put
that
none
can
asunder
But seeing that two lovers in one bed Are further each from each, As Love itself will teach. Than any star is far from them o'er head,
This question
still
recurs
Whom
hath
God
join'd
purloin'd.
last
And
first,
is
nor he the
21
so quickly past
Or
courts remain to utter their decrees
flesh
part
not
when
their
earth
is
dead
Who,
Past doubt, eternity, assuming these. Transfigures the old bonds or welds afresh
;
But
how few on
Much less with others have their own been bound, And skin-deep wedlock with the joys it brings
Scarce counts
among
indissoluble things.
Alas, the
God
join'd,
through
some
Deep-seated mischief, to divorce have come
And it is only when the lights within From height exceeding height some lustre
Cold, inaccessible and clear
win
clime
sea.
though bands of
sense enfold
old.
Of great
free unions
which obtain'd of
Naked we
are,
And
The isolation on our course imposed, The hush of prospects from all points
22
disclosed
OF TRUE AND FALSE MARRIAGES
Yea, on the nuptial night
man
stands alone
And
own
Of such are our most close companionships, Sad travesty of joys that once we knew.
Pass as we can this mournful exile through, But ask not constancy and faith too much
;
Of loving kindness seek the healing touch, And let us deal with those who share our lot
As
if all if
Keep,
mercy were, all judgment not; we may, through this life's stormy weather,
What
did
God
join
.?
Man
!
Off with these bonds Over the great abyss far-off hope proclaims what union is, all that cannot rest in man's vast deep Till it returns to God and there finds sleep
The And
Has since creation in our inmost cried What God hath join'd who was it dared
:
divide
.?
23
THE POET
With
silent steps
SPEAKS
thou movest, Moon, on high, For ever keeping thine appointed course
!
What hope
source
of rest
is
thine
What
native
Dost thou for peace seek out ? The days go by There comes no end in sight, no haven nigh What impulse prompts thee on thy starry road ? Ah, shine Thy roamings bless this dark
!
abode
With mild
effulgence
fill
Solitary Lady,
we have grown
on thy long journey
fix'd
Our
eyes so long
Almost content
Our
24
; ; ;;
Turning out a lilting verse Here a flash of fancy caught, There an artful image wrought Could be better, might be worse
Easy comes and easy goes
too light, fantastic rhyme Tinkles, twitters, sparkles, flows
The
Who
hit-
He
plan
Leave
Other times
Singers
behold
;
babble on.
25
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
HEMLOCK
You know
Or what
So
that, in the last resource
of
all,
It matters scarcely
how
the light
may
fall,
lift.
beacons
little also
or early Nature
stir,
idly
how
it
When
Of
all
Or how
the
noon her children take their fill good which warmth and brightness
than a
trivial thing,
left
bring.
Who
Having
much, unmurmuring,
behind
Of all the morning splendours of the mind And all life's midway majesty and pride ? One great detachment puts the soul aside From the fair outward fields which Nature owns,
Since
some time sadly seeking certain thrones, Remember'd ever through a world of wrong.
soul went forth. She, having journey'd long
The
Amidst the sorrows of secluded tracts. Among cold snows and frozen cataracts, Above the common zones of human thought, One burden of sad knowledge thence has brought That in such altitudes all stars look thin. So, 'twixt the throne you surely thought to win
26
HEMLOCK
And
Its
Now, hence it is that though the With sight herein it is not satisfied, Nor is the ear by hearing occupied.
may
see,
And
For
nothing ministers of
as the
all
things round.
man who
looking to be crown'd
at eve, if left
all state bereft,
Would
little
Show over wide meads phantom And though the stars may shine
Would
Than
still
keep knocking
at the
Palace Gate
So, dedicated
all
And
Where great gods are, but having miss'd our By reason of the gulfs which intervene What wonder now that all this earthly scene
:
.f*
Yet
this
is
desolation
hemlock here
all
We
No
But,
Taking the
lest
hope destroy'd.
Embitter
and those
whom
27
thought intense
the
work of
sense,
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
Like any worldling underneath the sun We still remember that which once was done,
On
were held only by the great abyss ; And when we most may turn from mortal things
It is in
We
Or
at the
Still in
Some bent on
more on pleasure And some on the chaplet which fame attends But the great deep's voice in the distance dim
the
;
:
Said
Peace,
it is
well
Him.
When
I
heard that
all
By
But
pond,
a fork'd
hazel-wand
;
On
I
a twisted tree, in a
Of the
end of things.
28
;;
;;
cast
around for
a scrip to
as the roots of weeds All weeds, but one with a root of gold Yet I knew not then how the clangs ascend
When An
old worn wallet was that they gave me. old signs on
its
With twelve
And
For
I
a star
good of
my
soul,
sins
down on my
in their life
had heard
Of the
I
Which foUow'd
While
a
thousand cheats
and
streets
sea-reed's speech
at
When
the
?
peace-words
breathe
the
end
for
each
The fools fell down in the swamps and marshes The fools died hard on the crags and hills The lies which cheated, so long repeated.
Deceived, in spite of their evil
wills.
sea-flutes
29
"
scrip
and the
;
staff
had strengthen'd
me
The
Do
As a clamour of voices heard in sleep, Come shouts through the dark on the shrouded
deep.
Now
The
it is
noon
in the
hush prevailing
fall
;
conceding
my
Gives resonant utterance far and near " Cast away fear
;
Be of good cheer
He
Is
is
here.
!
here
And now
Even
know
that
sought
Him
I
only
as child,
when
for flowers
sought
To
The
find
So speak to them
mild
Which
Did
my
star
The
Prone by the swamp or the marsh's side, I, in the end rejoice, Since the voice of death must be needs His 30
Did, even as
voice.
A BRIDGE FROM EARTH
Not wholly
May
His
hear
God
Distracted, in
Interpret.
in part
world before
me now
But yet not more than commonly removed, And, strong and sweet, God's speech goes over it in the bright, blue sky In winds which freshen The high, clear sky swept bright by Autumn winds His eyes are shining. What if in the South The dark clouds roll, and gather'd in the West Below their bank, of black, foreboding mien. Far droop long tendrils down of angry light ? These hold some other mystery of God Behind them, and a pearl is in the mist
;
On
me.
At my
feet,
O'er
rich
Now
all
it
breaks
Earth
me.
Like
a voice,
31
;;
pastures
too
rich.
but in the
An
secret things
at
On
Or lifts a ladder, or a path makes smooth From less to great till earth of all the worlds
Is
AT THAT DOOR
In the late night
I
full
stood by mine
White mists
The house was lock'd, and desolate and void, The forecourt wild and damp without The rose was scatter'd and the vine destroy'd
Loose
tiles
AT THAT DOOR
From ragged eaves the stealthy moisture dripp'd The moss upon the steps was green The foot along the reedy pathways slipp'd
;
On
No link was set within the time-worn No lamp in porch to show the way
Cypress and yew made ominous response To wind more sad than they.
No loving hand was there to let me in, No voice behind the portal spoke,
But
at the knocker's
unaccustom'd din
The
And
meseem'd I went forth yestcr morn From v/armth and light and peace within Whence, if I tarried in that place forlorn,
yet
But
still
The moon
for ever, in the vapour's shroud, leans sideways from the sky,
saffron cloud
Ah, what distress Of mine own house denied, Acold beside its portals dumb And vacant windows staring blind and wide, That dawn will never come.
33
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
esprit se revete
pour descendre
et
se depoulUe
pour
monter.**
Folds of
flesh
Dimly
Wings of those that loved and knew thee Round about thy house may throng,
But the charm of life which drew thee Holds thee by a spell too strong.
Soul of sweetness, thus forsaking
and love divine, When the witch-spell fails, awaking Light and life and love be thine.
life's
True
light
May
thy
sisters'
Born
34
ILLUMINATION
ILLUMINATION
I
With
Man
Yet can
from
his
new
divide.
II
The
simple words which follow shall direct Right well and pleasantly all hearts elect,
little
And
come
seas
But unto others be in meaning dumb Vague voices which delight on stormy
In unintelligible images
:
May
Late,
all
who
if
not soon
What makes us say that underneath the The toil we call our own is toil undone
Finds work, when others
sleep, for
sun
And from
3S
came some solemn purpose to fulfil, And till encompass'd in its whole extent We cannot say that we indeed were sent,
We
Nor
yet be sure
we do
IV
Something has gone before us in the past, And something more must follow at the last.
Man
With
enters
life
VI
He
And
His
his strife
is
heard,
Toiling a higher
title
to attain
VII
The
Such earthly
on him as Nature knows, And sustenance is his from brimming wells Of its white sacraments and parables
;
36
ILLUMINATION
Through
all its veils
Of
greater orders
Which
When
The The
Is in
souls
come down
letter
spirit in
the inmost
And
Renders
IX As
every witness in the heart avers.
dispensation of the light occurs,
sees,
No
The
United truly on
What
Deep
place
is
it
lurks
!
in the heart
X
High
rites in all their stages
can dispense
Only the
And
The hunger
House.
37
Now,
Clean
life
leads
XII
But what
is
raised, magnetically
it
;
draws
this
is
law of laws.
XIII
Which open
A DIRGE AT SEA
Well hast thou chosen who hast made the sea Thy resting place O, all things bright and high
!
it
By
in
is
the ample
moon
would
stretch
away
38
A DIRGE AT SEA
Sleep, gentle flesh
The
in its blue
;
shall glisten
;
groves of coral
all
the white
become portion of its being. So the thought A The sacred thought of thee shall still keep That calm, vast heart.
delicate flesh dissolving shall
And
fresh
The mermaids draw thee down, deep sea temples, there with mystic rites Perform thine obsequies. To its true home
To
The
Is
flesh returns,
;
thy
throughout all days to come That soul to mine inseparably join'd, With light and beauty, like a sacrament,
render'd too
Shall all
my
39
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
A DREAM OF JUNE
The
splendid pageantry of sunset takes
The dreamer forth along the winding road. What time the dewdrop in the roses makes,
Descending
silently, its
night abode
lifts
What
About
a coral cup,
Now
way
of yesterday.
With fragile petals delicate of hue The sweetest flower that in the country blooms The wayside rose, 'neath heaven's imperial blue,
Dispenses
its
felicitous perfumes.
While dying
With sudden
glory tinges leaf and bud. The snow-drift quenches now the dying beam The rose of sunset is itself a dream.
floral chalice,
May
May
40
! !
A DREAM OF JUNE
Thine
elfin beauties
jealously defend,
And
thy
May
Be
dark December
bleak
stress
I
May May
temper'd winds about thy spaces green Breathe light in modulated music low
golden bees, when thy
its
full
bloom
is
seen.
Extract
mellow sweets
to overflow
The deep
And
fill
homes, with winter stores their honeycombs And in mans image-haunted hives of thought
!
Not
all in vain
may
thy
Those
summer's
bliss,
The moths that flit through fruitful fields beyond, With wings of azure, where thy beauty is
And May
For ever hover in a silence fond with deep rapture, all the day long ringing. thy fair world ne'er want a lark's blithe singing
!
O may
In
Through all night's calm and visionary space, glow-worm haunted thicket, or deep vale,
Abide
at
And
With
all
lift
above
flower of love
Was that thy blush upon the western Was that thy beauty over field and fell
Investing
all in
sky
gorgeous panoply?
all
Ah, when
things here,
Thy
fragrance
For
And
The shadow
of
life itself
life
has ceased to
fall
is still'd
A thousand Roses in
of one
42
A GREY WORLD
A GREY WORLD
The horse
is
warm
in his stalls
Warm
the angels'
hymn
;
in stall
and churl
on ted
:
comforted I
These
I,
But they
with
me
till I
die,
And
For
my
heart
Now,
downs
rose,
And
about the downs the hills did close Peak above peak, with a frozen crown, Each mountain over the hills look'd down The sky was snow and within it all Was a sense of night which could not fall, While the wind, which seem'd to carry a cross,
loss
The
43
The
child
:;
Or
offer'd the
And
It
woman had
lot.
not
came
less
And
Only
known,
faces,
Or
if
She went on trying some goal to reach. As a lost child strives who has none to teach
had
come, nor
thither,
And
fear
which
an
is
Through
ice-world
front
and
back Forbade the pulses of thought to stir And wither'd the poor little heart of her One thing only, by waste and hill
Something drove her to hasten still. Lest cross more dreadful and greater woes
In that world's unrest should befall repose.
44
;; "
A GREY WORLD
The
Over the waste, through the mist so wan, tortuous path went on and on
What
purpose serving exceeded wit Say, is there light at the end of it ? And after all, in the scheme of things,
Is
Or
this only a
On To
bed of down, where bright rays are hear the voice of her mother calling, Saying " Sweet maid, it is late, so late,
a
:
falling,
And
sisters
wait
?
To
usher
my
The
lift
And
snow
drift
The sharp flakes stifle her wailing cry. The peaks are lost in a blank of sky If God is behind this doom and wrath,
She will haply issue on smoother path, But I know not, granting all crowns of
bliss,
it is
warm
in his stalls
And warm in his hut lies the thrall And a high chant filling the heavens
"
says thus
! '^
But Thou,
Angels of Issa,
bow
the head.
45
WHITHER
The moon
Nor
does not
tire in
the sky,
after
it
the star
which comes
quail
But they know where they go. While we faint and we fail, For we know not, ah, no Sure light, that has lighted from time out of mind, As we look from our place, Still we dream by such grace
!
We
may
find
DISTRACTION
Shall
a poet whose office is high For the heights, say, a moment unapt. Descend some distraction to try
And
adapt
itself gives a
touch
Than he meant
46
: !
DISTRACTION
'Tis
assumed he must cleave to his part But may seek with conventions to toy,
if
See
Offer joy
And Phyllis becoming will seem When the pipes of a Colin give ease
In his dream.
There's not
much
in this, as
we know
amorous gaze,
Of
a courtlier mistress or so
Singing praise
Or
Shall he give
A
We
rhyme's chance
may doubt if distraction in these Can be won from his call overlong, Or that ways which are beaten will please
For
his song.
are
It is true, in a different
is
way
47
blue
Me
and you.
And
who
tend.
To
the end.
all are
the peak's
seeks,
To
go
there.
IMMANENCE
The
wind without is wild on down and cliff But here is perfect shelter. Pause with me By this rude stile and, past the mellow browns Of autumn bushes on the broken slopes. Behold the sea below, the vault above.
;
The
scarce seen!
IMMANENCE
I count It good to stand, as now we stand, This resonant September afternoon, And, past the twisted shapes of oak and beech, To see the low, slow, sounding waves far down Churn'd on the rocks and stain'd by yellow sand Advance incessantly. The air is cool Here wanes the day from this glen's marshy slope Comes subtle fragrance and that shelving bank. Where oaks still hold against the stir and stress Their sering leaves, alone from sight shuts out
; ;
blazing
autumn
The
West
!
Are flaming
Now
Our
steps retrace
hill
we climb
?
is
Is the sea burning ^ Are those loose black clouds, Which, with the wind, pass off from North to East, The smoke thereof.'' It is the sunset see Confess the Presence watch, but speak no more
49
A FREE WAY
The And
green hedge grows by the dull wayside,
for
no sweet reason or
artful sense,
rises a fence,
And
Close
on the further
a shoal
hedge
To
is
Of
random foot-way
Its
is
and torpid pond. falters beyond, narrow track in the woodland screening.
ragged, the shoots spring high
;
The hedge
Through
But I doubt if even a dreamer's eye Could clothe it with secret meaning Nor seems that twig, from the rest up-rising Twelve inches straight in the air or more,
:
guide-post stretch'd to an
unknown
shore
For a good stout heart's emprizing. Yet on certain nights when the moon is lateIn front of the moon's disc, dark and straight.
With
Moved by the night-wind's hand unseen And a still small voice in the dreamer's ear Begins to murmur and keen.
Very
softly there, very sadly here,
50
A NIGHT PIECE
Sway'd South or North by the viewless hand,
The
"
leaf says
" Here
it is
:
Fairyland
"
!
And
then,
more
plainly
is
He
Near, near
never
searching vainly
:
so near
is
The
It is
gate
is
free
now,
I see
if ever, to
And
That
for one
through
a leaf
"
!
message coming
humming-
Why
May
this
impart
Some secrets hidden in Nature's heart. Whence I conclude that the end of things
Exceeds not the sweep of an angel's wings, And if these spread widely from base to marge,
We
know He
A NIGHT PIECE
On
On
At
the drench'd sands and shallow windless sea.
that one boat which rocks, with one bare mast,
And on
There
With crumbling
falls,
soft
close of
sad,
Time
grey night.
51
SEASONS
For ever the autumn and spring And for ever on shining wing, Summer which goes and returns
;
But oh for the cleansing fount, Dear heart, of the Holy Mount, For which ever the true heart yearns
who sought
the
Holy Graal
Found in the castle hall his senses fail, By heavy slumber strangely overweigh'd. The pomp, through smoke of censers slowly
Swept by him, prone with limbs that never
sway'd,
stirr'd
And
lips that
moved
Which would
And
So
who our
52
BENISONS
Of hidden Ask secret
oracle
and holy
lips
lights, the
And
whether
it is
spoken or withheld
spell'd.
It utters
Knight of Arthur's court, after great stress You saw the hallows which could heal and bless May we in time our long enchantment break And to the word of life from sleep awake
!
BENISONS
Blest be
Increase
this
undergrowth
!
May
rain
and dew
it still
And
Which after cooling showers has From dark, rich downs that ring
crept across
53
SUSPIRIUM
Where
The
art
thou?
Where?Speak
!
to
me
once
divide
loved,
This adjuration and this agony Should vitalise the remnants into life So should I hear of thee Thou dost not sleep Drawn through high portals of eternity Thou art awake, abroad but where art thou ? Give me a sign upon the sky to know
! :
softest
down
still
pool's
breast.
face, if tears
be thine.
Oh
lady,
moon
at night,
An
down
From
And
But
fill'd
with love.
life
As thy
sweet magic
fill'd
the sphere of
after, stricken in a
woeful time
As sometimes
night, star-panoplied,
supreme
54
SUSPIRIUM
And
saturate with artemisian light,
Grows wan
moon, dying in the white distraught Turns to a pallid shadow thou didst wane And hence the mercy of all-patient God Was written in agony through all my youth, But thou wast martyr'd more who now art crown'd.
earth's
And
So for thy
sufferings' sake,
And
I
my love, my of my days,
life
loss
unstain'd,
who
environ'd
me
life
a heart of pity
With generous
pulses
the chords of
And
there
is
none that
pray thee,
have wrong'd
not
one.
Therefore,
end
still air
have kept
I place.
Let the
;
Come
in thy mildness
or, that
Strong in
my
yearning, bid
me go
55
;;
LIFE
With the under steps in view, The stairway stands, having earth
But the heavens
it
passes through.
Height and deep. And a dream for sleep. Yet the Word of the King says well. That the heart of the King is unsearchable.
Of
the
upmost
Where
But of child or man in the wonderful land There is none who has scaled the whole.
And
stirs,
as yours
Are not, since the first man fell For the heart of the King is unsearchable.
it
passes
Of thy
The
kin
To
God orders His world so well Yet the heart of the King is unsearchable.
56
A LADDER OF
They
Thereby do the
LIFE
came down,
And
For good and ill May be mixed at will. The false show true by a spell, But the heart of the King is unsearchable.
Now
And
About
And
We
And
may
read amiss
Both
in that
and
this,
the truth
But above these slumbers the silent air And the hush of the dreaming cloud.
In the strain and stress
Of that
The
silentness,
may
is
swell
unsearchable.
;; ;
with a holy
fire
We
On book
I
and evangelist
the third
Of step
And you
down word, on the fifth may dwell Yet the heart of the King is unsearchable.
can bring
As
It
And
dreams of the things we love. is meet and right we should call to mind That some must have pass'd above
Yes,
some there
are
far,
tell
Who
have passed so
They have
never return'd to
is
unsearchable.
Some glimpse
at least of the
Of the
They
spiral curve
it
For, stretch as
may through
man
And with
The way
His
spaces
unsearchable.
58
OF
One
THE DEEP
world
SEAS
is
secret of the
sadness,
Granting tears at length are dried, Set the cares that mar life's pages.
In the course of many ages. Once, and that for all, aside.
Take
the heights and the abysses, Those great spaces which are past. The great forward vistas, blending
With
the dreams of
life
unending
And
immeasurably vast
all its
keenness.
Haunts too narrow grooves of change, On the common sense of pleasure Draws too much,
to serve as measure
Of
Morning
stars
Sons of
Where
the
anthem
59
falters out.
we came and
pass'd like
Short of sight
It
What
a moth's-flight space
have we.
But confronting
earth's unearnest
And
With
Joy must perish and light laughter Waver on the lips of man.
Life
so far past
all
is
searching,
frail,
That the
firmest faith
all
must question
dark suggestion
save us.
;
Many
But
if
keys of
doom
are there
Than
self-reliant.
Highest ends with strength achieve, Hold that life is best expounded
By
So go forward, so believe.
60
THE WIDER PROSPECTS
But ask not that joy be with you Light things are by joy express'd
;
:
Unto
Is
rest.
screams
Discordant
rise
in air
God's
splendour
now
their
peaceful
flight.
To
Poised in the
triumphant.
Here my road
Reveals the open country.
I
see slopes
Of
Low-lying
dimly limn'd A long blue line. The land is dark with Far and away beyond me winds the road, Ascending as I follow, evermore The prospect widens, round me hills and
distant sky, in outline
;
The
trees,
hills,
6i
The winds
are held
The whole
Stars o'er
earth
Seems mine, and shortly will all heaven put forth my path. Methinks this road so broad,
;
So brown, so pleasant, like the rover's life Goes on for ever it is steep, it curves. it follows all the vale. It leaps, and dips
;
Then
Here
So to be
Begin to
silver
A A
by hedges do the oaks on the open mead brown horse browses, while in one beyond stalwart beast with black and burnish'd sides
stir
;
Slow drags
wain to reach the track And at the bend he gains it. As I walk Behind, a dry and subtle incense fills The cool air round me but I pass it now And see the farm before me so mine eyes
a loaded
;
:
At every turn are met by something new Which gratifies the senses and the mind.
All suddenly the golden
air is
changed
To purple, passing swiftly into grey. And there is mist about me it is chill
;
The
sense of
sadness settles as
reach
THE WIDER PROSPECTS
To mark
Against
the contrast of the dark green trees
and illumined sky, Ere night one hour has fallen O first star, Whose lamp is kindled in the South so high To mark it and to worship. Now the moon. Out of the bleak mists of the East, aglow. Without one touch of sadness, o'er the marsh
a vivid
Her
orb uplifts
as the
how
fair,
how
sweet,
how
blue.
;
Looks
And
summer
Turns
to a resonant
calls
my
transient
is
mood
strong,
Speak to deep wells within the heart of man, Till the deep wells make answer I, at least. Walking in summer on the winding road, With downs about me, with the moon above With the bright moon which, as it rises, pours
light increasing
through the
lilac
sky
to
Amidst the wine-like fragrance of the air, Hear depth to depth make answer, height
height.
63
;
;
;;
JOYS OF LIFE
That
Those
light
we know
to be only seeming
dream looking down on dreaming Blank space which cheats us ; quick time which
stars in
slips
;
To
The
Hope's light too faint on a bleak existence All ways too many for ends in doubt But though perplex'd by disorder'd courses One strength call'd up from the soul's resources Still to go on and to do without
WATERS OF CREATION
Thou
dost reflect alone the changeful skies
fills
greater speculation
our eyes
are
more than thee Above thy wildest storm the mind can rise,
are thy masters,
We
we
Strong
sea,
great sea
64
LOSS
AND GAIN
we dream not how, The spirit with a brow
in
We lost We know
From
Wore,
as
it
long ago
not where.
them,
some
diadem
and
this
is.
But crowns
High
Ah,
friends
it
What,
therefore, did
we
lose
and why
.?
.?
Was
our
home beyond
But home is only where the soul, above These anxious ways, finds sleep of perfect love, While the same heaven which draws our hearts, we know, Extends as far above us as below. Whence, therefore, this so dimly understood Yet haunting sense within us of the good Wherein we once rejoiced which evermore Through mournful ways of life we now deplore > Ah, if the heart could learn, the heart might find Or, at least, less inhibited and blind, Move on more conscious where the ways direct, What to avoid aware and what expect.
;
!
Here
is
perchance
E
One
gain
ours
who
in the
dark advance
65
:!
we
Light comes
of beauty,
And
For
of grace
whom
Love
of
Whom
strongly
God
leads
onward by
light
fairest face
To whom
And words
dawn proclaim
evangels
such as
Thou
the lowly from holy place and holy
for
With glory on
Of
altar
chaste,
shining
placed
one
radiant
vestal
brow
66
FRAGMENTUM
FRAGMENTUM
LOOK behind on all my former life, With its strange fortunes, feeling faint
I
surprise,
muse thereon
while,
sunk
in deepest thought,
Thou
bower is fiU'd With things familiar. Thou, reserved and cold, Dost hear my tale how all things formal seem And yet what secret matters O my friend, What dark thoughts haunting What thoughts evermore
;
On
all this
A
As
sudden
flash,
mind
we
are lost
To
As
warden of the
castle walls,
How How
What
So
how
of sea beyond
Yon
romance
67
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
Interprets
its
By words no more, but living images. Once, from the realms thereof, we drew that light, Exalting Nature ; but the thoughts, my friend
The
the
gleam.
And
in those
Now
Take
is
The
its
descent
Is steep to
Made rough
to save the
;
Do
you mark
That little bridge which spans the burn ? Our path Goes over it. Before us to the left The old church looms a growth of ivy there Shows in the evening light its splendid green
day Tells time in silence on the southern side. Here swirls the shallow water did you catch That flashing fin ? See, in this hole curl'd round,
dial all the
;
On
A speckled
The
Patience
!
eel
is
sleeping.
So we reach
The
Washes
at
brink thereof.
Wide
the trysting-place.
Things
greater,
and the
least
is
also
first.
68
VIATICUM
VIATICUM He who
He who
hath made
it
will
mend
it,
began it must end it Leave it to Him. Weary and poor thou art, Weak of purpose and frail in heart Thy hopes are vague and dim. Stretch forth thy hand and try If thou canst touch the sky Lift up thine eyes and see
;
How
Leave
far
'tis
over thee
!
is
late
it
to
Him,
to fate
Each
Those books,
star
of each
my
friend,
Though
while and
That
For sylvan peace, self-promised long ago, rest of which you dream (Come, lock up house, my friend, and leave 69
it
so
!)
you stand knocking at a certain gate Will forge no golden key to let you in (Make haste, one further step, the hour
:
When
is
late
!)
Now, well-away
were
What
!
treasures
some things
:
Ah, woe
is
!
(Toll slowly
mine
which now
Stifle
the unseemly
horror
falls
loss
!)
Be
still,
In pace,
OTHER MANHOODS
We
And
know
in the
A willing
part, to
Sounding at times an individual note Conceived within them through the starry hymn high creation chants. Which Ave, ave
70
OTHER MANHOODS
The leaf which shrivels in the hand must feel, Though it be feebly, and the bud which lifts Its head to catch the sunlight, we believe
Since something in us prompts and forces faith
Does know, though dimly, that the light and heat Are life and health and happiness. Through all That lives some form of consciousness pulsates
And
not
all
The joyous
is,
bird,
Which
In
in the glare
Pours forth
we
think,
And
The
The
In
in his
own degree
some
Some
Are any heights forbidden him ^ Who knows This only from the deeps within ourselves. Above the common interests of sense.
we
are
71
OF CONSUMMATION
Wise,
heart,
is
what
Not
that
it
reckons the
the pains.
gifts
An
aching
void
being
aching heaven.
Wise
who
and
For that which the fain mouth burns to kiss and loving arms to embrace Has never been given to lips or arms in the world
of time and space.
Wise
therefore,
all, is
he
who
is
does
But knows to
his greatest
need on earth
service
of earth denied
72
IN
ANY GARDEN
asking of flesh and blood and
rest,
less
Who
least things
After
much
conquest and
toil
come
sacred flax,
cries
IN
ANY GARDEN
I
dream'd
a
in a
past,
On
And ere it rises, where light so still is, To breathe of love to the shining lilies.
Over the bower was the bindweed twining,
73
.
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
And beyond
Life's
the
lily's last
its
white cup
secret
mystery yielded
up
past.
my
steps attend,
And
the
first is
named
End
sought
soul,
Way
End
is
is
Now
But
Yet
I
as to the third, I
have search'd
my
dim.
know
Say, have
dream that his you also by these been taught ? Have you not seen them, from first to last, In any garden, when noon is past ?
THE
Kept well Few quests
KING'S SECRET
it
seems-
That presence, manifest in evening's cool Long since in the first garden of the world, Withdrawn to-day in the most secret place
74
THE INWARD MAJESTY
Of all concealment, baffles reason's search. God veils his glory from our questing eyes We know not why few claims are ours to
;
:
press
end perchance
from
all apart,
The
still
Is possible in cities
And on
Such happy refuge comes to you and me. But compass'd by the immeasurable main. Or on those heights where nothing intervenes Betwixt the climber and a certain star, Let inward majesty to outward scenes So consciously respond, That, when the shallows into silence fall,
may
call,
75
HAUNTINGS
From
Drives
life's
first
dawn
till
now, when
life's
new
stress
all
Earth has been full of those strange secret things Which we touch sometimes in our quickenings. So in the veils which commonly divide From what we vaguely term the further side,
Rent or thin place makes possible to see That which encompasses so pressingly. There is no man, however steep'd in sense. But can recall some such experience, When dusk or dark or daylight dimly gave Suggestions which are deeper than the grave, Till soul in body for a moment felt Contact with souls that in no flesh have dwelt.
'Tis then
we know
there
is
a houseless host
Of incomplete humanities, of ghost And spectral people, who, from dregs and lees And depths of stagnant and unconscious seas
Exhaled, their evolution's course begin.
But, though remote, are
still
And
76
HAUNTINGS
You And You
Sad
cannot draw your blinds at eventide not shut thousands
enter,
in the
dark outside
morn
:
But thousands
is
responding and by
the pity in the
unknown.
heart
is
human
part.
By
dumb
beasts
making us Nature's
priests,
Then
And
them
in their pilgrimage.
Ah
pity, tenderness,
And
the Great
God
above
Come
forth
Lo, all of mortal life I set Aside for thee " She, hearing, came!
And
77
He
From mortal veil and bond. They left their bodies side by side The blessed bridegroom and the bride
And
The And
soar'd beyond.
own
;
them
Was And
granted as a diadem,
where no mortal steps have trod They follow'd the high quest of God.
DREAMS OF DEATH
In storm.
In
darkness
and
in stress.
What
That
ivonder
if,
o er lifers
dark deep
seems,
From
An
exile's sickness
for
his
home ?
it
The
Long and too long laid waste with evil dreams Which end not even with his latest breath,
troubled sleep of
man
endures,
And May
who
78
DREAMS OF DEATH
For heavy vapour doth the heart enring I, more than all, should pray for wakening These many years in mortal slumber kept.
!
indeed,
my
time
is
overstept
is
great hour I should have known So that the only tenant in the vast And silent place of sleep, in vain I beat Wings weariful and weary hands and feet
past,
Against the gates, with clamour and ado. But there is no more hope of passing through
If
It is so long to wait morn will come Long seem'd it never at the cottage gate That space of day the morn and night betwixt
!
When
As
forth
toil.
My
But
Till eve
Spring breath found ambush in her sunny hair. Which opulence of light encompassed, there
Standing so statue
tall, as saints
might, crown'd.
And And
Where heavy
An
angel's face
it
And
in
my
stirr'd
that secret
word
79
; ;
not utter
lest
she cease.
was long
Then, midst
I
mind
At many cries before me and behind, knew that I should go back, never more
as before,
Nor door swing back, nor scented dusk reveal The eyes which welcome and the hands which heal
Being by sad calamity or sin Absorb'd for ever by the gulf within
;
And,
Doom'd
Such
is
nor
e'er escape
in the
gloom
tomb.
found,
my
Long have
is
And my
on
Him
I
Who
Is
have
said,
And
With
fill
their
own dread
I
O
At
then
pray that
may
find
some track
enfold
least to
And The
that
wife
who
me
80
DREAMS OF DEATH
The little child whose innocence and mirth Seem'd newly waken'd in the life of earth Rather than aught which play'd in dreams of
sleep.
There
is
Which
evil
drive,
And
There
from phantoms of the night alive promise which from old has said How rest from labour on the blessed dead In peace descends Give me their balm once
save
is
more,
And
With
Ah^
Shall yet
become
to
me
a gospel
word.
let
us rest as
much
as
men may do
Because
without
the darkness
and
the cold
Hide
laidly shapes
who
shall behold!
8i
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
WORLDS OF DREAM
The And
sun descended in a flaming mist
all
Blue sky
Half-shrouded
sea, mysterious,
with smooth.
Embracing
steep'd
sudden
and
lo
Eastwards the sea shone cold and steely grey, While downs and headlands, with the chalky roads That wound among them, as the wan, white moon
Rose over
like a
phantom grandiose
Facing there the main,
right.
Land upon my
;
With
capes and cliffs, with towns and towers therein, Enchanted dreaming on the left, this world. Which sober'd sadly towards a single tint
As
It
night
fell
down
thereon.
It
Grew
its
disquietude.
of these could one Apart from both, in such a mood, have said This and not that was true reality ?
Sole sign of
Of which
82
IN
IN
Now Autumn
and dries the yellow'd leaf, Long since sad reapers brought the harvest in All which dejects us or exalts is brief Death in life's mask, shall life in death's begin
Say, one
is
gone
perchance
kindly face,
voice
perchance
which
could some
hearts
encheer
Haunt
And, vacant
Trite epitaphs
"
Too good on
Let fools
inscribe.
?
end
Who
knows
hnplora pace !
Turn
aside
friend.
From
Convention
tolls its bell with mournful sound, Convention plumes the hearse which bears the
clay,
ground
Embalm remembrances
!
in chapels of mortality
memory burns
83
Down
And
If
To
other meetings
what
from
useless calls
if this
were
last
Augustan mood
Once and
for all
A HARD SAYING
Unselfish love which would itself fulfil Must be what men call mean, must make unask'd
The
first
To
For
prosecute
its
is
to give.
devotion.
This confessed,
from
all
Of
Elected, souls
must
New
fields
84
From
Like this, in vernal hours or in the soft Luxuriant summer prime, from high degrees, Exemption find and take the grade of peace.
Renouncing not with all our doom foreseen. Such respite gives the greater strength to bear, Puts by the sense of whole unworthiness.
Or
lifts it
up
Who cannot choose but deem our souls unmeet, O Love of all for love of thine and thee,
!
us,
and
Our
meet to hold
love
beyond
all
love
a start
tremulous heart. In the dark of the night woke I Had a voice unknown of a day to break Utter'd some warning cry ?
a
And
But the East was cold and the thin white fold Of a light mist up to the windows roll'd
85
And
They Some in
And And
Once
and some in their grace. some there were with a haunted face
a fever'd head.
To a To
It carried a darken'd lamp and pass'd There was none in the house that
:
slept
so
fast
As he who walk'd
Over the
in his sleep.
stairs I peer'd
and found.
With
On
I
swound. doorway wide And Lay drowsy henchman and dreaming hound. With none to challenge, I slipp'd the latch And, passing under the streaming thatch, I visited stable and stall and stye. But I never came on an open eye. For the roosting fowl that crow'd unbidden Slept with his beak in his plumage hidden.
heavy-eyed by the
86
Dead still, outstaring the dripping moon The moon on her side in the mist lay red
Green
leaves, but they stirr'd not
overhead
Has more of sorrow and less of kin Than the torpid heart of the house within
Like the hush which
falls
when
My
By
heart with
its
yearning drew
me
back.
In an upper
room of
That
a light
may whiten
I brood watch me too The unseen ones, sitting the long night through Near, as it may be, though out of reach. Till the sleepers waken to life and speech At the end of this sorrowful spell. And seeing that high in the belfry tower There hangs a listless bell. Some voice may bid me proclaim the hour
my
thoughts,
And
watch, but
I feel
that they
comfortless
vigil
mood
gain
Cry: "Look:
If
I I fell
Morning"
when night
my
is
done.?
at the
call
should
HOW
The
air
IT
FALLS BY
THE SEA
wind was fresh, the sky Before him violet, westward tinged with deep And angry red. Behind him, loose and black, Great clouds roU'd up ; the church impending
was
cool, the
loom'd
He
pass'd with
tall
awe beneath
its
tower of stone
in
Square,
and grey
the
graveyard
cross'd
haste
And
reach'd the
wood
;
Far stretch'd
a plain
;
Had
gather'd
dull
from the orange of the West glow fell on quiet pool and pond
;
The lamps
Began to
and here
glisten.
way
The scarlet sunset and the stormy South Made splendid, and with images sublime
The
boy's
pale
mind
fiU'd
while
o'er
his
head the
With gleaming
stars
And
HOW
IT FALLS
BY THE SEA
By
the shore
He paused, the waters washing at his feet, But in the distance, mingling with the wind. Giving forth solemn sounds. And turning then,
One
His
mile or more, against the breeze he kept
set face steadfast.
By
And modest
struggling
Charm'd him with music, and the moon Above the trembling bosom of the deep.
wax'd
A
A
phantom.
Amidst the bank of black foreboding cloud, Drooping long tendrils down of angry light He stood, the blaze upon his cheek and brow Smote him. One moment every field and tree
The
Of cottages
As things From out
Fell swift
;
shone
in that
transfigured.
And
low champaign
gloom devolved.
Awhile the waning glory of the West The broken pageant and the shards thereof
He
watch'd
lurid
;
the sullen purple, tinged with gold, leaden vapours far away
;
Grew Were
Laid bare
melancholy blue. 89
down
a lane
which led
He He
paused
him
far
and near
As suddenly
Their vast
they,
Knew
well
how
He
Broke forth from covert. The wind died and But darkness deepening on the early wheat,
Left every green blade visible
:
his
path
;
moon behind
Mourn'd
at
him
as
TO OTHER ENDS
forth no more where bindweeds creep About thy lattice bars, And move no more where waters sweep
Look
Entranced by musing
stars
Thy
peace be
full,
Dark night possess thine eyes While night as dark is ours who weep,
Sweet Life,
fill
other skies
That which God join'd to make thy wonder, For Heaven's gain, thus He puts asunder. 90
BURDENS OF BABYLON
BURDENS OF BABYLON
When
the stars cease to speak to thee
softly fall
;
when
all
word
when
When
winds
are
voiceless
and,
from
distance
brought, Sea sounds give up no more the form of thought Then faded Nature, once in life so glad,
ever
mourner had
And
one utterance in the world is yet, 'Tis but the burden of a vain regret.
if
When
All
and deranged,
from peace estranged, If offer'd straightway an immortal cup Would lack the power of hand to lift it up
action and
;
Then
And
underneath the
swooning moon
for any,
or sun
no not one
91
; ;
O O O
inexpressible
deeps forlorn
Of
With
And
Say,
of
is there nothing ? Far off suggestions of some fount of strength Far as the stars of peace o'er stars of strife,
Do
ye hold at length
And
far as life is
from the
life
of
life ?
Wrecks on
upon the
sea
Hearts that have broken, hearts in ardent heat To ashes burnt vain ways and vain conceit Yes, through immeasurable loss and need,
of
One
still
strong to intercede,
92
ONWARD
ONWARD
Beyond
the breakers
lies
the free,
;
Unfathomable space of sea Beyond the sea the harbour far And that beyond new countries are. From cliff to hill, from hill to plain, We pass and find a further main Until we reach where time is not, Brothers But then beyond it what I Peace, doubting heart which questions thus;
!
Peace
Do
not
all
things answer us
all
Or
if
and each,
GABRIEL
Do
you remember, wheresoe'er you keep
eternity, asleep
least transported
now
93
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
And
so, I trust, set free
Do
If
I
you remember
intelligence unmix'd are I pray But even then the deeper sense you fix'd And saw with me great miracles in him, White-vested walking through the cloisters dim. Then, knowing that none except yourself above.
!
Who
With me below, will penetrate our love, However plainly stands the written word, Let me conceal no more, whose heart is stirr'd
To
tell
spoke alone
Or but in parables to other men. Far have we travell'd both 'twixt now and then ; You, as I dream, are something more than earth. Brought through cold deeps of death to your new
birth.
While
And
Pursuing
a peculiar
I
path of quest,
Shunn'd am
your ear then, plainly let me tell first it was we look'd on Gabriel, At mass or vespers, guarded, earnest, blythe,
As
in
When
A white-robed,
censer-bearing acolythe
94
GABRIEL
Only
a face
Lovely he was,
as
human beauty
his lips
The Met
lily's lustre,
in his face
were chaste
as fair
And
his
auburn
hair,
While
as in a net,
Youth
though
our
two
hands we
could
Have
had come down and of crown, That out of any place where lovers lean
But on
So high
a sense of vision
And
So bright uprose
We
knew him
seal'd
and
set
As Dante
Who
saw
Madonna many
days,
But did, continually spell'd, defer Each opportunity of speech with her We with the boy adored the sacred host But challenged not that spiritual ghost
;
Until
at
He
The
But
and stoled,
strong to save.
God
95
is
my
grave
; ;
Who
were through
all
so
your heart make them a safe retreat, If you can do so, at the judgment-seat. But through the sorrows of your later years, That boy's face hallow'd you for purer spheres
Still in
Still in
It serves like
prayer because
peace
it
shines so white.
And
Some of their
who
fall in
Christ asleep.
Old friend, whate'er our early verse may tell, Here is the mystery of Gabriel But the rare seeds sown thus in earth of ours Once gave us many miracles of flowers what of these to say Fair fruits too promised Oh, you are dead, and he has gone away
MIRRORS OF
Man's
MANHOOD
And And
own speech
and was
equally
in star or stone.
96
MIRRORS OF MANHOOD
Man
If
gives
its
"running brooks"
reads
books, he writes, he
And
No
living
tongue but
his
Still
Nature stood
till
an
exile,
came,
And
fragments of a
now
unutter'd
Name.
For though he speaks and speech imparts to all, That which he would he cannot tell nor learn,
And
own long
call
fills
And down
Perchance the
his
own
still
profoundities explain
all
And
all
That which the clamours from his soul divide May to draw nigh and to commune begin.
97
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
SEVEN WATCHERS
From
heart-deeps
things
Withdrawn
in
undetermined altitude,
On many
And
haunting insights
pondering
alone.
But the
unknown,
And though we
Save
in
far apart
:
Desire stands, vainly reaching towards its end So deeper glooms than with the night descend Fell on the soul of that aspiring Son.
Thereat, a
little
space,
and
after,
One
fill'd
Who
gloom and
" Perchance
He
will'd
;
To
But there are earthly gifts and these are Fame And Wealth and Honour and all high estate."
"
I
98
"
"
SEVEN WATCHERS
The Son of Heaven replied, " and surely found By what strange sorrows is ambition crown'd." " Yea," said the other, "and I wait as well."
To
By
Are
these a third
came
in,
made
:
visible
shining eyes
and spake
I
"
to be counted, as
deem, above
who
enters
Has life in fulness and the diadem." The Son made answer " Hast thou counted Loss And he " My sorrow is my crown and cross The tears of Loss are bitter as the sea.
: :
And, sword
with thee."
fourth broke in, " I am Sin, Flush'd from the revel, singing
silence follow'd
till
Then
And I have known all raptures and the bliss Of shame which meets with shame, to mix and
Then said The heart
"
"
the Son of the Desire which
in search
lifts
:
kiss."
What wages, brother, doth thy rapture earn ? From death they come and unto death return," The child of Bacchus and the Moenads cried, " And many deaths in life my soul has died
But
I
will wait
who through
the
door
Had May
99
"
proud
estate,
And Wisdom's
'*
less to great."
fair,
sweet friend
What
therefore knowest
The
I
other answer'd yea, " That dust for ever has to dust return'd
also therefore wait dejectedly,
And
sight, perchance
is
nigh."
said
"
Though
all
things
still avail."
"Yea,"
"did we indeed
believe.
The
But the
may
fall."
A
So
hall,
Some pray'd within them sobbingly, some wept, As they that melt towards prayer, and other some Through windows look'd to see if morn would
come.
But the
air
A sudden sense
And
There stood
a
LOOKING WESTWARD
Who
said
:
May
have been
Through the great gates of death, and I have seen That which I testify as surely true. Give me your hands, for I am made as you, And look into mine eyes, and speak my Name." Whereat the Watchers cried with one acclaim *' Master of All, for Thee we waited long
Who
He
to enlighten
*'
:
and to save
art strong."
answer'd
Watch with me
a little space
"
!
But they stood raptured, gazing on his face, So that the world and all therein went by. And from the eastern heaven the sun rose high.
LOOKING WESTWARD
Worlds beyond
Wild West
:
Like ripples are thy long all dreams, all hopes Seem possible within these earthly bounds Which heaven enrings and thy bright belt of light
Springs forth to thee
Low
lines of violet
cloud
lOI
That which
longs to say
it
never told,
evermore.
Was
Once and for all to speak the heart has striven Once and for all the heart has failed therein. The word and music of the word begin,
;
But cannot finish yet the soul shall see Light in the soul has dawn'd, that light shall be Extended surely through its great domain, Nor towards the summits turn her eyes
;
in
vain
Far end, perchance, but she can see the end. Clouds intervene indeed and veils extend,
But
Of soul
The Of old,
That which
hidden from the fleshly eye, end and high significance of things.
great Plato said the soul has wings,
not thou that ne'er the soul has risen, Flame-wing'd, above the portals of her prison ; 102
And deem
strives in vain,
;
Who
Yet
it
Or
One
secret baffles
Made subject now to terms of time and space, Drawn by the outward, not the inward place, She chiefly shares the public pomps and shows
There
Nor sun
To
no secret knows. Earth has mighty themes guard our sleeping and our waking dreams,
star as shining star
divines
it.
The Has
keep
That which we lack, the meaning and the goal. Exceeds their depth and height. And hence the soul. By outward witcheries encompass'd, sees The glory and the glamour which are these
She
listens,
And
While from the snatches of the secret caught. Beyond the limit of the world of thought Withdrawn in regions of which none can tell.
She fashions answers in an oracle And burning prophecies which inly stir She fashions answers, nothing answers her.
Therefore of how
it
shall at
length befall.
all
the end of
103
an unintelligible tongue
And flashes sometimes from her centre strike Which seem to show her what the end is like,
But
vague and undeclared. might her toil have spared That which can answer nothing, or, if heard. Only some unintelligible word.
all at
best
is
One
lesson haply
art,
May
after all
have
little
to impart
But in the soul itself, if deeply sought. Will come an answer to her inmost thought.
Let therefore music fail from harps of gold Let words be kept within the heart untold ; And let the soul no longer use her wings For ranging through the outward scheme
;
of
things,
meaning
wise.
104
THE PALACE OF
LIFE
THE PALACE OF
Man's
sacramental house has
LIFE'
halls
many
And
Wherein the guests and menials daily tread. Sad rooms are set for watchers by the dead. And secret alcoves plann'd on lonely stairs
Open, wherein fond lovers unawares
Are seldom taken by the stealthy There also towers and turrets are
spy.
built high,
Where those ascend whom solitary thought Has inward contemplation's sweetness taught. Halls of convention may be found and vast
Saloons for banqueting and music
;
last,
By
And
Wherein adepts
Now, howsoe'er
man
One
dome
alone
his
Can knowledge
rumour make
own
105
On
Which Where
Where
What
Or
O O
There
Shall
Or voices equally unknown outseek The watcher on his balcony, and speak
message
about
The joy
or sorrow that
stored without.
Whereafter visions and the power of song, With deep prophetic tongues, to him belong Or, by desirable and awful things O'erwhelm'd, his body from the house he flings,
When
The
in a
all
The house
Or
if their
Go forth, And if at
The
of dreariness.
THE PALACE OF
Now
this
is,
LIFE
few
therefore, to dissuade a
From heeding tidings, whether false or true. Which in these later days are rumour'd round
To
say
some open
Or one which
And entrance made into the unknown land That Nature high exalted then is seen That dead men greet us with a front serene That when the secret mazes have been trod A man may find himself alone with God,
And
In sooth
lies.
Or on what
Truth, which
wakes or
sleeps,
Much
less
of
how
But not denying that a door may be him who hath its master-key. Let one who, ere the ending of his days. Has much endured and travail'd in strange ways. Exhort his brothers not in life's short span
Set back by
To
Or
ways unknown,
What
Our
may
feel like
alone.
And
It
dawn
And
We
fires
107
But not
in vain
Nor
yet in
do vain do
defend
And
by,
And
standing lip to
all
lip
and eye to
eye,
true
Pax
And up
The
let
Till
from the
There
is
Which
places of the
world outside.
of
sin,
Who
With
Do
in their
own
The
individual
May
them
diadem
!
io8
And May
who go
to
God
find
came from Him from Him did never But howsoe'er encompass'd by the hosts This is the life of life and not of ghosts, Nor does it lie beyond the walls of each.
Who
Hard
is
hard to reach
or can teach
it
And
The Too
it,
here,
too near.
Therein the waking comes, the rest is dream Yet this is also in the mystic scheme
And
steep'd awhile in
life's
magnetic trance
The souls that slumber may in sleep advance And something still behold through their smoked
lens
Sic sa/ve,
Domine omnipotens
fair in
When
The
round the high, fruit-heavy mural shield white wind washes and the corn-fields roll
still in
secret
One
know
So having travell'd long, and fain to rest, I keep that place a secret in my breast
And
Where
secret
more than
all
My
My
Of immemorial melody. A storm Of choral praise, unprefaced, with a crash Burst on me then, the language of dead gods, And drew me back among the Temple's typesSign-words and sacraments of mystery. So to the end it held me, magnet-wise,
Till thyrsis-bearers pass'd and hierophants
The
But when the vacant Temple held alone secret god, I follow'd from afar
Behind the
veil into the vestibule,
I
10
And
High
offices,
As Nature
A certain
To wit, those words within the common scope Of speech. Thereafter, in pursuit of signs
More eloquent, of higher speaking things. The heart takes counsel with the sanctuary And finds the Holy of the Holies, past All Holy Places, yet at times looks forth.
When
all
Which after their own manner sang of old Do now in likeness of his voice intone. The chancel walls, expanding thereupon, Take Nature in exalting Nature gives At every point upon the Temple's gates
;
And
Her The
if the fires
and
lights
And
No
psaltery
wanting
in
1
the world.
1
A RITE OF EXALTATION
I
THOUGHT
at length that
haply
human
love
Might
ofFer refuge
Which had
Up
At least to climb and having climb'd, *tis More dreadful on the summit of such hill The mind's fastidious balance to preserve, Nor dizzily towards precipices swerve
;
still
And
the emerited soul in sense immerge. Back therefore from the summit and the verge.
Where
terribly the
meet,
such retreat
As those can make who once the starry track Have strain'd at and for ever must look back,
I
made,
my
I
and so put on Once more the huddled vesture of my kind. Then the unearthly beauties, which to find I strove so long, for me seem'd now to strive Their tincture haunted all things here alive.
Sign'd, as
was
far
112
A RITE OF EXALTATION
Then
in the place
of
stillness,
brooding deep
On
Which
And
iris
invisible wings,
To
I testify
That past the common range of human mind There stretch the royal regions undivined,
An
if
trod
Seems to lead backward and be lost in God. There is a door, which could we find its key, Opens therein from our humanity. So forth on roof and parapet at times Stealing, I saw what none can speak in rhymes But never came the message to mine ear, Or saw the visionary eye so near As when, reluctantly, its potent spell Breaking, I turn'd from the invisible And brought the light of all that dwells withdrawn,
The
These
Now,
But
who dwelt
from
113
Of outward
rather, awestruck,
diadem,
Whose souls are subtly link'd with things above By sanctified capacities of love. Her from the sons and daughters of the race
I
chose, to
lift
place
:
Amidst the crowd which sees not where it goes I wrought love's work on her, and now she knows.
What
follows
.''
This
Those who have dwelt in light can bring that To something more than isolated fruit Within themselves, and can at will transmute Such as they take into their heart of heart. Making an altar set from earth apart,
Whereon
is
And
Name
!
Is utter'd.
Or
all
symbols
set aside
Learn, simple
I
woman
show
this truth
when
is
can be deified
Has
all his
Know
And
and
While love
at the
end such union comes at length As to the worker brings another strength
Those heights forsaken once again to dare. Those realms discover which await him there, With consciousness of ends beyond them still
The
hill
114
ABSOLUTION
PLAY SCENES
Nature is pantomime; some force bestirs The antic struggles of her characters, And semblances of life imparts to each,
But no true motion and no
gift
of speech
And
for each mimic actor speaks or sings, While in the galleries and stalls we sit But do not rightly catch one word of it.
ABSOLUTION
Here to me
to
friends
Have
all
wrong'd you
Come
me more
than
lips
That which
my
would
forestall.
Now
breaking the
sense
Human
rock of offence
my heart
is
of things.
Ye
that are
give,
human, pardon
If any
need for-
Rest
life
that a
man
would
Who,
sky,
Knows
draweth nigh.
Ye
plumage and
follies
human,
I
free
from our
and
and
sins
Ye
also
know
Warm
If
I
they blow
forgive
it
may be
come ye
may
also
The
life
of
all life
also live
ii6
;
! !
ABSOLUTION
Nature, gracious of seeming,
too
late,
closely to mingle
learn'd
my
life
speech
So
far as
my
pray you
forgive
surely
down which
knew
in
Or
ever
my
star
was
barter'd, or ever
my
birthright
sold;
Surely
my
steps have
stray'd
To
For
Till
leave
is still
betray'd
all
my
here, in this
empty
it fills,
the
life
of
my
life
thou
Yet
if
man and
if
Nature spurn
me
back,
If Grace deflect
starry track
117
!; ;;
know
in
my
;
still
be trod
I will
take
up my
heart in
my
hands, and go
up
in
alone to
I
God
last,
come
all
to
Thee
but
come
they
fail'd
me
the strife
;
Those
of
I
here
is
the end
my
life.
find
And
no refuge but Thee, O last and first in the wide empty worlds of the soul Thou canst not
;
cast
me
aside
under the
Are not for long rejected, at least by Nature for one And though the hands which are wise, high gifts
;
may hold
for a space,
We
communion with
could ease him a
Grace
Man
The
if
man
smart
rudest beast of the field responds to the
heart
human
cry,
" O,
my
darling
Are
little
less
that
is
my
gospel
word
ii8
INSUFFICIENCY
VEILS OF
ISIS
Nature is naked until man's own mind Has rainbow hues to all her form assign'd And she in turn provides his garments dim Say, who shall robe her when his hands unbind,
;
:
Who
unclothe him
INSUFFICIENCY
Thou, having
seen
it,
art
thou
satisfied
That platform of the morning bulges wide Above the purple gorges, in the dim
Exalted
light.
Far
down
Far down the breakers on the crags expend Their strength in gulfs where never men descend And thou, awhile from sea and shore aloof,
Art
as
one issued on
a palace
its
roof
spheres,
In Esclair-Monde, from
exalted tiers
Gazing serenely
down on moving
119
Can
Nor
Shape
do thoughts most come So pass the moods of ecstasy to some More sadden'd state, which knows not throne or
Since in reflection's hush
crown,
And
at the last
With weaker steps, along the arduous slope. Somewhat disorder'd with thy former hope
little
dazed
but conscious on
the whole
That these high places cannot fill the soul That Nature's peaks, which few before have Do not specifically lead to God,
trod,
And
Only when
may
From quiet ways, up the precipitous track. Where saffron morning o'er the sea spreads fair And know that the soul's ends are everywhere.
20
A CONFIDENCE
A CONFIDENCE
which you seek for in your heart of hearts That which transcends both Nature and the Arts Great beyond conscious grasp of human mind, But ever as the rest and goal Acknowledged by your secret soul
Brother,
I
That
you ask me knowing it so great ground on which I dare to state That you shall certainly attain at length Learn that beyond the things which seem I have divined your dream, And also know your hidden source of strength.
And
The
if
solid
Have
courage, therefore
Keep your
daily road,
And after your own individual mode Do that which comes to hand, but
For failures sometimes made Be not concern'd too much Fear not yourself I have no fear
as
such
for you.
121
HOW
Now
Is
IT
IS
ATTAINED
SUNSET
IN
THE
sometimes held
such
high suspense
As if a man's feet taken from the ground The world beneath him spinning round and round
finds, at length permitted to descend, All old, familiar scenes at some far end,
He
And
where the runnel by his thatch should be Hears the loud roar of a discordant sea.
Of
little
space
in
an hour of grace,
life
and thought. Like landmarks storm-effaced, to nothing brought. Permit that in the circle of a dream There slips, unnoticed by, a century's scheme.
Or, twixt the lark's
last
When
That
It fell
Of spikenard odours and frankincense sweet Which the deep-breathing earth gave forth from
her
Item
an
ecstasy of nard
and myrrh
122
HOW
IT IS
ATTAINED AT SUNSET
That a fair haunt which in the woods I trod Turn'd on a sudden to a church of God,
And down
the path, as
down an
aisle, I
pass'd
Through umbrage
An
hundred
feet
Scarlet
And deeps beyond all deeps of violet OpenM behind above was snowy fleece Of stainless vapour glory, one with peace. Was blazon'd there. The heart of solar fire Outdrew me by ineffable desire,
;
:
Till
it
flash'd
force,
That
And
God
surpassing speech
Through
my
spirit reach.
Deep, deep, I gazed, till deeps within me yearn'd Deep, till that light to other splendours turn'd Deep, till those splendours to a point drew in,
;
And
lived within
stars, the
heaven of thought.
still
And
Leap'd flame-like into me, her place to fill I was keen spirit, from the soul made free, Which is, which hath been and through all will And then once more I was an eye which sees
Into unutterable mysteries
be,
123
: ;
thereon
The
A
As
I also knew. knew, with all made one By the same law which poises star and sun For moving systems marks a single track
was known
therein,
I
Which
back
From
And
out of One the multiple evolves then the many in the One dissolves,
That when the end which is no end befall Nothing be lost, but God be all in all.
Out of all
All love,
all
But holy words are wanting to declare And at the fine thereof returning where Five hundred feet above the plain a crest I found confronted by the burning West Lo, scarlet gold how vividly had met And deeps beyond all deeps of violet, While sinking in the lowland at my feet The lark his brown wings hid in meadow-sweet.
124
PLUMES OF SABLE
Waste,
waste, waste,
but
is
of the sea
The
I
And
a
Ah,
the heart in
wider,
me
I
know where
the wild
know of
peak
more dread
when the
fled
some
?
years agone
is
we
set
How
Or
For
if
fares
it
with us
If the end
yet,
we
I
still
each declare.
me
pause a
far
moment on
is still
the road
To mark how
125
tide a
dream
recalls
And
last.
While round me move the deeper dreamers Perchance for us the waking time is near
Since one advantage over these have we,
here.
in their spell
As comes
Perchance
to those
who hold
it
we thought
^
from
the
first
who
knows
When
Life,
that
awoke
its
we
died.
And
would seem, remains to tax our skill, Set forth the subject as we view'd it then That life one duty has imposed on men How to get on the lesson all must learn By open ways if possible to earn Their high success, if not by ways unknown. All ends worth seeking, say, from star to stone,
:
Much,
We
pass'd in
;
thought before
but
those
us, ere
our choice
Was made
rejoice
which
common
hearts
126
dedicated span,
Nor did some greater aims pursued by man Seem likely to avail him in the end
:
Such signal triumphs as on art attend Such crowns in paths of knowledge seized at times The laurel wreaths of rhymers and their rhymes Devotion's guerdon for a country's weal Due praise we gave them, owning their appeal, But did with blessing true their claim dismiss. Full long we ponder'd, weighing that with this.
;
Nor
But
life
disdain
And
That
end we found that trades were vain, the crowded ways where men compete ;
which
all
must
eat
Twere better, if it might be, to forego Than daily bread for our sole object know
That wealth and luxury and social place And seats among the mighty of the race
May
But
in
How, Then
on
it
said
we
paused a moment,
since
seem'd to be
No
We
And from
But presently we found that ere he died The common man saw vanity in these,
And now, as then, the saint their contact flees. What true end, therefore, over and before
All these remains
?
O knowledge, evermore
127
; ; !
Man his height, his deep Ye hidden forces Ways of the waking world and world asleep Praise we invoked on all who these pursued
!
For us we
left
them
to their solitude
?
How
And
With
we
said.
so
it
When
Whereat we
The grand
And forth upon our varied ways we went, What weary days, on God's attainment bent Of many men did you perchance inquire,
The circle of that world has brought you round Unto the starting point and how much found ? I inquired of none How much, how little ? Of One alone by One to seek the One For me at least avail'd. Withdrawn in mind
By
From
midnight unto sleep of dawn I sought the vision out of both withdrawn And me the circle of the deeps has brought
Back to the
starting point
Leastways one lesson both for me and you Ours is the way of the attainment true ; 128
; ;
GROUNDS OF UNION
No better end than that we two divine Has shone upon your pathway or on mine,
All paths attempting where
all lights
have shone,
And
way
;
So forward, therefore somewhere lurks the end All in good time His time that's best, my
friend
GROUNDS OF UNION
There
is
To
touch thy
or thee to greet
Nor must I say in what far land, Out of all time, we first did meet As in this russet hour we stand,
A
If
memories
My
And
since
sees thee
everywhere
art there.
I
will not
For, having look'd in eyes like thine, Past love's inscrutable mystery,
Something more
sacred,
more divine
I
And
see
That,
enfold,
hold.
Taught
would teach
By thy
and tortured grace, Surely when forming thee God sigh'd Thou art so wan, so mortified.
tired eyes
From
us, whom Nature never knew, That common health is far removed Whereof old saints, with instinct true But angel-mildness, disapproved
:
They read our weakness through and through, Saw that strong thews and nerves of earth
Win
The knots which bind our souls are such As earthly ties would strain and start
Each would not hold
If ill-content
in each so much, on earth to part That once the ways we walk should touch For consolation, not for need. That which is merciful decreed. 130
:
THEOPHANY
Let then those ways divide, not they
Either conjoin or disconnect Thou wilt not fail me on a day,
Nor I from they sheer height deflect By stooping towards thy house of clay But when that day for thee and me Comes, at the end, remember me
;
For
rites
I
Knowing
And
will pause, if
thou be
late,
little at
the mercy-seat
Till God shall make us one in Him, Hide under wings of seraphim.
THEOPHANY
long unmindful of the great concern, did from errors of our way return, From strange side issues and from paths involved.
Too
We
Thenceforth on reasonable
life
resolved.
Our sins fell from us, and unloosed with Were many morganatic marriages,
Incurr'd regardless of the sacred things
these
Which
life
Who
131
many ways we
did forsake the
Nor
Wherein
Hearing
Which on
their
former country's
But
set
What quest might glorify our later days Whose hearts so high are fix'd on things
Ah,
friends
!
What
mystery
Of Him who
Some
shall at length
faint reflections
on
And
so it fell that from the dream we kept Within our hearts, a flame of ardour leapt, Till we, drawn forth to seek in every place The tidings of His presence and their grace, Did in the end, by golden legends led, A realm of mystery and wonder tread, Chosen from all the places of the earth
To
see
God
manifest by
human
birth.
Kings which had follow'd, from their realms afar, The age-long portent of a certain star Priests of a line which since the world began
Was
man
132
THEOPHANY
And,
far across the
silent
melancholy
seas,
;
The Met
in their
And
And
Or
knew
How
There
won
fulfilment true
And
came the shepherds from the hills. the ground and he who tills. From noisy marts the merchant came in haste
he
who sows
Came
And from the city came the child of sin To see God born and a new life begin To make refreshment in a weary world.
The nations' banners peace on nations fell. And the long strife of creeds was ended well. The spirit of the world its pride gave up,
;
And
The flesh dissolving utter'd as it died The sacred mass words, and was purified And Lucifer, the Prince, who knelt with them,
;
life,
and undivided love, have abode In any conscious gloom of heart or mind Unwillingly have ever into day,
perfect, free
We
seers
With
And
and clamour of aspiration, sprung ; when we found true sunlight we were blest.
strife
We
faith.
knowledge and the soul's clear sight That lucid world, all scatter'd beams of thought Receiving and reflecting but when those Were granted not, we held to faith and hope And any ray diffused along the dark, Though less than nothing to the world at large.
;
Yet sought
Our
And
As
counting
all
things well
His speech Keeping His silence with the same brave heart Which, bidden, would have trumpeted His word For ever waiting on that word by Him Withheld for ever. To the end of all Approaching now, we fail but do not faint
grateful for
silence as
. . .
His
He
134
THE PATH
The
consolation of His messengers.
We
His
And
we have not work'd nor stood before His world that we indeed were sent
;
light,
tomb
And
underneath the quiet wings of death, Faith helps us still amidst true calm of soul
To
say
The
quest
;
is
and, whether
or death,
We
still
THE PATH
Seeing
Is, in
that
all
which
lives
One
which sings
which works or
star
gathering of force
The soul of man shall, to complete its course. With a great rush return from whence it came The last and first can differ but in name.
And
there
is
How
Which now
From
Untouch'd and unconvinced, has stood apart. So that mere words have trick'd us over long.
when the soul is search'd, the soul proves strong Zenith and Nadir and the Sacred Hill, Show nothing keener than the human will.
But,
Directed wisely unto Vv'isdom's term. Let us be therefore bold, and here affirm That one strong wrench and that alone man needs To set himself apart from evil deeds
;
And
if in
ceasing utterly
from these
The true Path lies, then are all mysteries So well within the circle of his days That if in truth there sounds a seraph's praise About the white light of a central throne, Not to the end shall angels serve alone.
Man's voice with
them.
theirs
may
join, he stand
with
Nor fail at last of any diadem Which can crown souls in any Or if the stars have thrones
place
unknown.
and throne.
lose star
All
this,
however,
origin
is
Our The
lip-confessions
soul
its
And
show what man must reach from One discerns. is when the soul returns.
136
;;;
THE PATH
But up that steep incline which once we trod, When we came down we know not why from God, We also know that none to climb begin, Nor dare until they cast away their sin.
Now,
is it
hard for
all
man
to sin no
more
which drew aside before Henceforth for him is of its lure bereft. That to go upward is the one course left ? Bear with me, friends, if what I know full
say that
To
well,
Of all
This
is
I tell
One simple reconstruction of the will Then from the soul shall pass the lust
Think Think
that outside our end
that that
all toil is
ill.
vain
who
end attain
what does not to that end belong Is folly always when it is not wrong Fix this before you, and you shall not err Nothing shall tempt you, nothing shall deter. These are plain words, but their high sense enrings The solemn secret of acquiring wings. And from a complex to a simple mode Can bring the soul, so that it knows the road ;
;
Know
How
VALE
Good-night; the hour is late, the house is cold, The fires have smoulder'd down, the lamps are
spent,
And
Sleep
all
which
it
also need
Late, late
grows
Beyond the fells, the fastness, the abyss ? ways too far for over-weary feet O heart uncertain, where no goal there is Somehow, somewhere, in darkness or rich gleam Yet shall we meet Till then good night, sweet dream
138
PART
II
HOLT GRAAL
N.B.
The
initial
design
of
this
Mystery Play
is
referable to a friend
and fellow-worker
in the mysteries,
who,
The
colla-
is
occasionally
common
to each,
is
THE
The lower portion of the stage, representing World, either hung with tapestries or curtains,
else
or
set
with
to
wood
flats.
Sufficient
lighting
for audience
R.I.E.
distinguish features
and
no more.
Up
Stage.
Temple of the Graal, which should be circular in shape, having a vaulted roof painted sapphire colour, and emblazoned with
the
The
Medieval
Sun,
Moon and
Stars.
In
the
centre,
the
glowing red of Emerald - coloured jasper, after the manner within and enriched by a stand The back-cloth, a reproduction of chased gold. landscape, with the hill-castle of of a medieval
Mont
full.
Salvatch
in
the
far
distance.
All
lights
On
the
rise
of the curtain,
discovered before
Three Keepers
141
of the
Graal
One^
on the
in
the centre^
is
;
an ancient man
others,
in
the
vestments
(?/
on the right
left
the
one
the third,
both are in
i^t
priestly vestments.
tion
to
addi-
the
Torchbearers,
Seven
Deacons
is,
of the
of white linen, a knightly mantle broidered with violet, a ruby pectoral cross, a girdle of violet silk
knotted in front.
The Chief
Deacon
six other
stands
Deacons,
The Bishop
The Bishop
the
sets
offers
incense in a thurible.
turns
to
Bishop
Veni ad me, fratres
fraternitatis et
carissimi, accipite osculum sanct^e
et transeant
verbum pads
a me inter
vos omnes.
He
to
the
Second Keeper
of
Graal, from whom it passes to the Third Keeper and thence to the Chief Deacon and the
rest
of the Brethren.
Lights
Enter,
to
off.
A dark
curtain
falls
from
to
A.
L.U.E., Master,
C.
142
The Master
Now
Our
I
we know
day
below
:
What
bid you,
good
my
How
ye believe poor
man
fares here
Let each in turn the cause and order shew. As seems to him, of our most grievous stress.
And how
This
it is
life is
spent.
Of gold
and lands
will
Others declare that bitter poverty The most torments our days with misery
Which
mean
estate
And
But
leaves
all
no
bliss at all
or consolation,
The
I
If I were quick and able, sick man says would not murmur at my chance unstable. He that is whole and fain his fill to eat Bewails his fate because he finds no meat.
Some hold
that lowly
men
:
Yet he that in a king's house was conceived Will make lament, crying Alas, on high
I
am
evil to
descry
So one that as a hermit dwells alone Will, doubt not, for his solitude make moan,
H3
Who
all his
Wherefore,
my
scholars,
Which
is
human
care.
First Scholar
Sir,
it is
mortal things amiss ? For, whether poor or wealthy, death Daunts every heart, while hearts draw breath
Which
And though
In
all fair
man
One
And
If
Sir
closer than his own right hand Will keep for ever by his side.
man
be strong or
shall not
Death
all
In
is
no
art
To
heal
him of
Second Scholar
Not with my
For joy
in
brother
is
my
mind,
And
even seek
I
spear in hand.
Therefore
How
But
I
dangers brave
in
most oppress'd
THE HOLY GRAAL
With
and rest He looks to find in goods and earthly stuff, Since of such matters none may gain enough, But ever toil their barren heaps to swell
grief while his felicity
:
That are but gold-a-dreams and faerie, Having no substance true nor mastery To help them aught. And so a poor villein Man lives with sweat of brow and sorry strain
Of his What
sad labour,
has end
friend.
Third Scholar
Sir,
there are
I
many
So
am
fain to swear
in
by Holy Rood
sore aggrieved
That man
penury
little is
is
And
having
of that bereaved.
Behold how high Lords eat up his estate, His goods despoiling for their garners great Surely of all things baneful this is worst, That one should go with hunger and with thirst
Through
all his
He
fares, to
Is least
at
Nor does
Fills
life in
up
145
gain hath he of
all his
days
He
Nor
finds in death
in
better taught
less
To
meet
end
nor goes he
to naught
Nor
Towards holy bliss which may hereafter come. On such good grounds I hold the poor man's
ill
More
great than
his
who
keeps of goods a
fill.
Fourth Scholar
Now
if a
man be
That he can find no joy while pains endure But if he hold his road with strength and health, It follows haply he shall come to wealth
And
As
if
he
fail
Fifth Scholar
He
Comes to his journey's end with many a moan. As many faithful histories relate And did the highest guerdon on him wait. Wretched is he withal, if there
Be none
his prize to share.
146
He
Most
him with many a friend from foes shall have his end.
Seventh Scholar
Full tender
am
of
my
age,
Nor can in great debates engage Or thoughts with wit of words proclaim But if, in fine, I dared to name
My
I tell
That none among you reason well For neither death with its sharp sting Nor penury to woe can bring.
As one maintains, the stout of heart With jollity to death depart Poor men receive their share of joy Some rich Lords live without annoy The sick man hopes with time to mend He that is whole a jocund road may wend
;
And
is some joy not all disconsolate. Nathless, you truly say, this life is maul,
There
So, if
I
all,
here
is
147
on him may
fall
the answer of
it all
mystery.
Now, know ye well, within this world is fix'd One treasure only and one joy unmix'd. One rich delight, one peace without an end. One healing salve which can all hurts amend. One holy house where foes can never reach More of this hidden matter ask me not to teach
The Master
ore infantum was said of old Herein the very truth is haply told And he who lights upon this secret store Shall know that all his days were loss before. Nathless, I doubt if in life's lower ground Has purblind man the place of wonder found,
;
;
Ex
us of enchanted Vr,
;
And some
there are
whom
Which, as they say, have visited in dream The moving palace that they call Irem While other some with fever in their blood
Do rave of marvels they have seen in Hud. To make an end, the healing salve I say
it
on
a day.
148
Second Scholar
Shall
man
seek for
it
in
Third Scholar
Is it
Fourth Scholar
Does
it fall
as
summer
rain
Fifth Scholar
Sirs, for this treasure-trove I
am
not fain
;
I deem it fond device and gramarye For all such guises it misliketh me.
Sixth Scholar
And
so say
I,
The Master
You And
Most
are
misguided
all,
by Holy Rood,
you
on
it
Myself
in other
Of
my
heart believe
That, for
and
man might
149
Thesaurus
latet in
Menurio
Yes, if a
man
Sulphur and salt do hold great mysteries. While he which can extract the seed of gold
The
wealth of
all this
we
gain
if
not
all
term of quest,
a little of the mind its rest, With ease of body and no greater blame Than souls may have which shall escape the flame That cleanses sin in purgatory's well, Having been ransom'd first from fiends of hell. From magic arts, meanwhile, and witchcraft may St. Mary shield our paths on every day
Yet so
So God shall save us and bring judgment quick Less on the sinner than the heretic.
May Plato's method ne'er prevail with us To all such whimsies, phi Diabolus ! And may our steps keep straight within the
Confessing only Aristotle's rules
!
schools
The
by your leave, it may not be This is no journey now for me, To whom all lore of schools is naught
Since there has
come
into
my
thought
150
word
that
shall tarry
all
Here
in this place,
though
miscarry.
First Scholar
Then keep
[Exit R.U.E.
Second Scholar
De/iral
Hie,
so
say
[Exii R.U.E.
Third Scholar
Belial
[Exit
R.U.E.
Fourth Scholar
Here you
shall lack not elf
and
fay,
[Exu R.U.E.
Fifth Scholar
Speed you, fair sir ; all saints, I pray. Stand round you, lest your steps should stray
Nor
let
And
[Exit R.U.E.
Sixth Scholar
In hell's foul pit shall be your stay
!
[Exii R.U.E.
151
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
The Master
Ah,
fair
I
my
son,
God
Since
[Exit R.U.E.
noon
And
move
at night
God save and have you waking, Ex hoc nunc^ in His holy keeping
The
sleeping
!
Young Scholar
bowed
head
till
is
left alone,
C,
in
standing with
the
dies
laughter
of
the
the
Six
Companion Scholars
away
him
distance.
He
then
gazes
about
with
something
of
dismay in his
aspect.
Young Scholar
Now am
I left in this
dim
place alone.
My
from me have gone all unsought in the hours of dream and darkness taught. to one forlorn, by him who came Withholding his true place and name, But things so high announcing that, meseems, This earth henceforth is thinnest woof of dreams. Yet sometimes in my thought a gate I find Through which a man may leave the dream behind
Master and
friends
my
152
in a little
while
all
my
true Master,
now thy
And
Full
knowing of the path I take O thou who didst my life from dreams awake And to be mindful of my want
Didst strangely covenant.
Be with me
In this
here, I plead,
!
my
\_A pause.
Alas, no help is mine in this strange land Where doubtful shapes do lurk on either hand Where shall I turn, whither my journey be ?
For now I fear the powers of Faerie, The hollow world where Pan is emperor,
That world where many a soul lies stricken sore, There in thick darkness Doomsday to abide, Sol close by Venus Queen and Helen's side, With all false Gods that ruled the deeps of old
And fiends that the False Angel's face behold. Of sacraments unclean they there partake. And with the wine of death their thirst they slake. Ah, woe is me And whither shall I go ?
!
How
from this dark world of wo From such a maze profound as long before Was set for that accursM Minotaur ? Too soon I come unto a high debate,
shall
I
pass
Nor know
Yet well
I
at all
how
lies
can
mend my
unto
state
deem
that, closer
me
Than
eye to eye,
; ;;
And make
But that
poor
man
my
body
Of the
That
!
falls
Lo I am And my cold
Here
is
heart grows
still
within
my
breast
my
my
body's
rest.
SONG
He
shall not thrive whose cup So say we all, and so say I. There was a man in Babylon
is
dry
his house out of a tun he was wise, and so say 1. There was a wife in Ermony
That made
And
certainly
And one was wine, all And she was wise, and
red to see
so say
I
whose cup is dry. There was a maid that journey 'd far. For she set forth and found a star That star shines full in fair old wine The best of it to thee and thine But she was wise, and so say I He shall not thrive whose cup is dry. 154
is
He
a fool
And
have
sail'd forth
Secundus
Ben'dicite
!
Here
Since
is
a lie
Above
Tertius
Beshrew me, this is John-a-Noakes His legs have marr'd the parish stocks
Primus
Now, by my
faith,
wander'd through
have been
And
Seas have
men
ship
of old
here
Thus am
well,
my
is
\_Lifnfig
But who
this
\^Going
to
Scholar.
Gossips, this
man
in a
swound
God
is
this
[Raising Scholar.
Scholar {murmuring)
Alas,
my
end
is
near, I wis.
I
And
see
!
COMPOTATOR
Alack
!
Meet not
to slake,
But with such strength thy heart endue That thou no more shalt grieve or rue
Scholar
(drinking)
tell
Thou
sayest well
is
but
me where
That cup
is
none
not
fill'd
with benison.
CoMPOTATOR
His eyes
It chills
is
wan.
my
156
Shew me
And
Where never fadeth the high day Where quickening wine is ever pour'd Where the bright feast shines on the board Where they that sit are well content
And
count
this
COMPOTATOR
(To
Sir,
others)
With Gramarye
his wit
is
mazed.
God
be praised,
Here
found
all
When
[^Leading
looks
Scholar
to
tahle^
R.I.E.
Scholar
into
chair.
Compotator
Jills
He
Scholar
Grammercy
for your courteousness
To
Alike diseased
and head And less among the quick than dead For lying prone, I dream'd a dream
life
thought that
in this place
There should come freely such high grace, That I should no more grieve or fear
Yea, in
my
A jasper
It
Exalted heaven's bright gates between, Until beyond the pole's clear star
shone with ruddy light
afar.
As one
dwelt, and
knew
And
But now meseems that this is nought deep in dream alone I wrought.
COMPOTATOR
Sir,
Is earth's
[prinking.
to hold
And
in
That he
well
who
Scholar
But
if a
man
.''
CoMPOTATOR
Then wisdom
finds one
maxim more
158
To
fill
rex Philosophies
it
a fair day went astray For here I learn that heaven's whole space Is held within one cup of grace
I
\_He
lifts
up the beaker.
And
Shall find
no dwelling of the
blest.
Then
let
Be canonised and worshipped Here would I tarry all the year, For summer glows unceasing here.
[Drinking.
[Meanwhile a solemn music begins to sound from without and the procession of the Graal
passes slowly^ with chanting^
at the back of stage ^ amidst incense
There
is
no manifestation of the
The heads of the drinkers have sunk upon the board : only the Scholar
sees
the
procession.
He
shakes
Com ro-
tator Primus
by the shoulder.
Scholar
Alas, alas,
now am
I all
bejaped
By sweet
Awake,
St.
me
quite
!
false fellow,
thee smite
159
There was a man in Babylon That made his house out of a tun.
Scholar
More
Thy
wit
Awake
thee, or I
CoMPOTATOR
What is this matter, sir, you would debate } Know you not this } When men have drunken well,
Then good sound sleep is fair and laudable. Hence, trouble me no more, of courtesy,
For well quoth he that
said.
Let tosspots
lie.
Scholar
Thou
saw pass
this
road
And
them such
as
fills
that Sun,
Whereof the ancient men in Alchemy Have sought long years to find the mastery
It
was
all
full rare
I tell
no gold
light
In
'Twas
that beareth
life,
1
and quickening
60
the while
in
As songmen
Now
Thou
well
know
hast bereft
me of my
true salvation.
COMPOTATOR
Alas
!
see
thou
art
by frenzy taken
;
As once before, when here outstretch'd forsaken Then didst thou babble of such matters vain
And
I
would, pardie^
might
find hellebore,
!
Wherewith such
Scholar
eyes
view'd
high celsitude.
CoMPOTATOR
I'll
men
that rave
God
Come,
this scholar
is
full
wood,
\_Rousing drinkers.
And
COMPOTATORES
{^following)
a tun.
Thus have
That mighty sacrament exceeding price enspiritual powers amazed My mortal eyes, when erst thereon they gazed But well I knew there swell'd such antiphon As I would say they sing on Mount Syon
With which
[^Dowft stage.
high procession went its road All Syon's peace upon the place abode.
as the
.
And
My
Ah,
soul
fair,
is
[Kneeling.
now
repent,
penitent,
And
And
So
look on him
of
who
is
Thy
Assoiling
shall
my
heart no
hear,
Nor
fiends
most foul
Thou
be near.
!
Thy mercy
dear
y^j
M^ Scholar
rises, enter,
L.U.E., a Young
Man
and a
JUVENIS
Listen, sweetheart, unto the nightingale.
Which now
Exalted by
to the
domed world
That changed by
his
found,
; ; !
that high
Their vestments
Incipit chorus
:
his priests
assume
Lord of Love,
is
And
Kyrie eleison : Lord of Love, we pray That thou have mercy on us for this day
And
Giving to love
and benison.
thus honouring,
And
The
move
done.
There is no church nor quire of fair-wrought stone That is with rich array so fair bysene For when the sun went down and mists gan rise,
After long glories at day's end,
I
ween.
These were the curtains of our sacrifice That do enclose us from profane intent. Then was the moon display'd to shine aloft And be the lamp of this sweet sacrament
The glowworms
To serve before Love's altar well content And meadowsweet, which hath our sense
Love's thurifer with good pretence
is
enthrall'd,
call'd
While,
as
we
Do
\The
Scholar
163
approaches them^
listening.
;;
no treasure found
But
is
And
Enough of
For love
is
Lord of all and suzerain bow down, acknowledging the reign Above them each of this high emperor While clerks that would have wit must know his
Earth's Kings
lore,
is
foolishness
And all
And
sinks
down
come
to
nought
If that strong
in each
And
all
There
shall be
bower or
hall,
Nor any joy shall follow on our call If we have goods they shall encompass woe If we would see, yet shall we nothing know If we would hear, dread noise shall only sound
If touch, our flesh shall be in mortal
If
If
we would we would
smell,
it
swound smoke
164
We
And crown
our days with great exuberance, Keeping as still in his sweet maintenance.
Scholar
It is
is
the thing
I
sought
to
;
By
Sir,
I
this
Knight's wisdom
Juvenis.
you have spoken of Love's benison tell me how such joy is won, hither am I come from a far land For
pray you,
secret
The
work of
bliss to
understand.
You
shall instruct
I
me
find at any
hour
may
satiate
my
Juvenis
So
will I
Learn,
firstly,
full
sweet
His way
made most
you worship not in toil and pain, Nor do your suit with brows that sweat amain But if you be to his high paths inclined Shall move therein with merriment of mind.
shall
Him
You
To
wear
his task,
To
Who
And
Then
the master of
all
high device
craft
men most
all
blest
furthermore,
dolour purge.
And
Your whole
and dance,
your body hold in right accord, If you be servant of this royal Lord. But now the sunset fires and fragrance call
all
. .
And
To
my
advent.
own bower
And
I
Ere twilight
midnight
still,
more meet.
\Exii
R.U.E.
Scholar
Alas for
me
I
Now
is
my
in
master gone
to help
me
my
bitter need.
PUELLA
But say not
so, since I
;
am
I
here indeed
this,
He
And,
you
trust to
Thou
Still less at
Demanded
Thy
travail lies in
I wis,
Rather,
than in philosophy
Of all fond crafts art thou the past mistress, Of games and plays for pleasant idleness
;
Thou
wouldst
know more
PUELLA
Alas
!
You
your wit
is all
true.
For what is all the lore whereof you speak But vain concerns for our poor heads too weak ? You would this world turn wholly upside down And make new paradise within your crown. You dream of things that here at least are not Of this and that, but all the best forgot Of visions seen at night of shadow play Of suns at dusk and moons at high noonday. You think that wit you have of ghostly sort, Yet hide your eyes to look you make report
;
; ; ;
167
And
shall take
lies
Scholar
Know
There
hand
Nearest of
most
far.
;
On earth
A
By
cup
lamp,
a tree
in
its
from dust do
rise
And
all it is
To
find
it
each
man
strives
is
will,
But on
Still
his
deathbed
a seeker
poor we be.
must we hold
is it
this
matter in desire
;
And
Yet
order'd,
though our
rest be
none
And
not with
life shall
That with false shows we shall be aye mistaken And of good counsel in our course forsaken. For though this marvel come into our hand. The shape of it we shall not understand Hence the fair treasure we shall look upon But deem it nothing more than stock or stone
:
Adam
did amiss
is.
And we
bliss,
i68
most sovereign
And
Has
Behold
we
sent,
fro.
And
this guerdon may we know, Which is nathless no strange or fabled thing Whereof in tales we hear the minstrels sing
Yet nothing of
It
What is more close than singer and his song And if a man as priest shall serve God well
In offices and rites most laudable,
Holding the
Faith, with
And
giving freely as
God
Then
So
if
him
pass
another prove
stoutly quit
And
He
golden store
And May
Or
is
run,
them
within.
PUELLA
Such strange harangues for me no music make So, prithee, speak not any more of this.
Which nothing
wis
hand,
Within these woodland walks, my arbours stand That in no tract is found retreat more fair Or rigidly enclosed from all rude air Of Aquilon aud surly Boreas, And none but gentle winds about it pass. There will I give you of such dainty meat
And
That never king could feast in hall so well. Heal'd shall we be therein from all dark spell.
Since
I
Forthwith
have herbs which those empower'd to taste in palaces of life are placed.
Those
men know
and dear,
a year
if
you be
lief
And
will be
Scholar
Full oft, the Graal, with rites in secret heard,
Is
And
If
I
ween
you
them be
my
need
:
And
But
if
Then
with secret guile to tempt you strive, other ways shall save my soul alive.
170
;;
sweet dalliance
still,
And
dreams have fill While shapes more gruesome than the night advance To work thy stupid head some unknown ill
undisturb'd of
silly
[Exii
R.U.E.
Scholar
Now am
With
True
left
my
steps or mind,
this
Meseems,
Since here
ne'er shall
come
I
Graal to find,
Whence
For
it
meseems
that
am judged unmeet
eyes.
Where
Alas
!
is
shewn to mortal
\_Noise
is
Enter
and women
headed by a Fool.
C,
singing.
Chorus
The world
There is no place for wisdom found King Fool unchallenged rules this ground,
171
;;
fair
realm there
;
is
the world
the world
!
is
no bound round
A
The
circle
is
&
R., below
Scholar, and
Fool
stands
to
L. 0/ Scholar.
Fool
Let
all
That
sway spreads through every land, and strand to strand. There is no King nor Emperor, No Judge, no Lord, nor Chancellor
my
From
sea to sea
But does me homage evermore. I am set up and throned on high. And as I look both far and nigh.
Behold the mad world passes by High lords in ermine robes array'd
At
make a great tirade. Yet by them is my power display'd. I see rich men heap up their gold. The poor in want wax grim and cold They all are sheep within my fold. I see Tom Tosspot go his way
councils
He
And
True
my
servant, by
my
fay
lovers all
it is, it
my
livery
wear
air.
Motley
They
carry
172
He
is
approached by the
Fool
in his
breaks up at length.
Fool
Young
wear such sad and sober face When all kind folly loudly pleads For modes and manners debonair ?
Why
Why
also
As one but late from school escaped ? Mark these fair meads, so gaily draped Our motley mark and tousell'd hair Your heavy eyes, your careworn look Do smack too much of wisdom's book.
!
counsel you,
in
let sense
go hang
And join
Which Aught
time
this
clownish gang.
And
Nor
sing.
wisdom's rule
a fig.
!
Scholar
I
pray you,
sir,
since
now
the hour
is late
And
on a pilgrimage from far I come, Chide not the habit of my mean estate
'tis
Perchance
not more
173
am
a scholar
and
seek as such
;
Some
I will
If Folly's
Or
Do
let
Fool
His anxious
face, outlandish
vogue
rogue,
And
This youth
Unmeet
Come,
matters not
him
And
make
off^
R.I.E.,
with shrill
noises.
Scholar
The
I
night
is
long which
so lowly
now
is
scarce
begun
who am
and bewray'd
offer
me
true aid
left,
am
174
and
the
Queen of Fairyland
enters^
Queen
Alas, poor youth, what sad mischance hath brought
Thy
Where verges of all worlds do mix and meet And men are weariful of heart and feet ?
In haste
I
Returning to
my own
auspicious place
But
all
my
my
light
is
dim
The haunting terror of a dubious hymn. Which Nature never breathed through woodland trees.
Sounds
in the cold air like the
scourge of
to and fro.
seas,
And
moving
is
To
poison
know.
is
beset
yet,
!
But follow quickly, while the time Where thou canst save at least thy
flesh alive
Scholar
Ah, Lady
Before
fair, I
would,
trow, derive.
my
Some
And know
The
If
would reach
The
175
However
Let
it
far, yea,
be
life, I
pray, for
And
breath,
!
but death
Queen
Poor youth, I pity thee I take thy hand. Thou hast no need to question or to fear I am the youngest queen in Fairyland And but to crown thy days has brought me here
;
Scholar
Oh
without
My
Within
my
soul inspiring
Queen
The
Halls of Faerie bless the
years as days shall pass
And
The
when thou
Scholar
Per signum Tau^ per signum Tau^ Keep me. Great Lord, in Thy true law
[Crossing himself.
176
is
of
all
divine
!
And grace of grace I shall not know What evil has the elfin done ? My beauty and my power are mine
:
me from
this
woe
[.v//
R.U.E.
Scholar
Right well
Is all
it
life
And bowed
All woe
is
One knowledge
want of
love,
Nor
man
sees
High Meet
To
If
hill
of joy, which
now
is
vale of tears.
we could
voice
unknown continually sings Of one who comes within the altar's pale At the high sacring, with the Holy Graal,
And
Which
of the powerful words that there are never enter in the learner's head,
said,
177
hear,
ear.
may come
at altar side
And
Will
Which
it
poor man's
call
meaning
As
all
Since well
said that he
who
And
to receive
who
asks
good
I pray Thee, therefore, fair sweet Lord of all. That some more lowly good may me befall,
Must
So
for
Thy
of the Host,
the most
My
One moment granted me, should prove aspiration to demand can dare.
I
May
Keep
clean within
me
through
my
days unborn,
Thus hallowing a lot perchance forlorn With sense of the high things exceeding ken And, for the rest, in common ways of men I pray at least that I may never lack One blessing of the seeker's daily track
:
priest
with penances
my
heart to shrive,
178
And
The souls of common men in every place. Then let me pass in Thee, with so much grace As one may have who would have trod the road
To
Sarras
and the
spiritual abode,
a
If call
rush-strewn floor
Has been
Beneath
is
Mont
Salvatch
God save and have us waking, sleeping Ex hoc nunc^ in His holy keeping
!
moon,
The
stage lightens
enters,
L.U.E.,
that
is
in the
sore beset.
Doctor Seraphicus
So, therefore, seeking
still
Henceforth we follow on
No
\The Scholar approaches with head bent and arms crossed upon his breast.
179
May God
Your
Since
for ever in
!
In sooth
other than
my
first
my
So for the secret grace which you have brought Suffer the gift of thanks and grateful thought!
I
sir, all
else before,
May
I
by your grace be
there
I
in clean
is
words express'd,
love
;
humbly
set
my
And
fix'd
my
Whence
my
to
all
commands.
Doctor Seraphicus
If that the
Your mind
green youth,
it is
most
well.
And haply to attain it in your You shall not fail, good friend
Whatever words from
lips
age
;
but, sooth to
tell,
untrain'd
a
may
is
fall,
Most
still
louder
call.
And
I
my
great need
such,
As one
Have
mood
recourse.
i8o
me
When
God
on
my
pilgrim journey
have gone,
remember, for your kindness true. Your fair ambition and take thought on you.
will
Scholar
Sir, I
have
little
of the world
scholar poor
am
I,
my
And
For
in
High hands
cup of benediction
and healing man. With anxious thought a certain private plan I have sometime within my mind devised
better hallowing
shrine
despised
To
hope the burdens of my life lay therein and cease henceforth from
my
strife.
But I have tarried till the rising moon Should shortly o'er these arches of green leaf To quaking darkness bring her fair relief, And in no wise from any ban exempt. All hordes of mischief me have come to tempt.
Whence I have taken that resource which Wide open to poor men in all the lands.
stands
And
Have
my
that other
some
to
sweet
friend,
me
shall
come
But
since
first
whom
have heard
To
I
Sent for
my
Yet
if I err
stranger comest to a
I
man unknown.
thine
own
But
freely given
That pauper
Doctor Seraphicus
sir, but as you spoke which waxes late, grew passing cold If, 'midst your weeds, you had perchance a cloak Wherewith I might these shrivell'd limbs enfold, Much would I bless such gift and you per-
These
The
night,
chance
Would on your
For many
If lightly clothed,
What
I
rare rewards
all
So that
leave
heaven doth
mean
my humble
matter
in
Not
rightly
The night in truth is chill and much I The hap of tempest, if we linger here.
Full bitterly the wind about us wails Vague snatches of sad, antiquated tales
I
fear
remember having heard of yore, As sadly and more fully by the folk
well
In
poor village whisper'd, long before great and wondrous things I learn'd that there were water ever sings. Of which no wind or
my
It
may be, sir, their immemorial loss Doth make all Nature seem to wear
a cross,
And
Or
I
her dejected children, but a gulf Doth ever widen in the hearts of both. dare to think that could
we each
attain
Those
domain,
Where
Are
the high, holy secrets undeclared treasured out of sight, then, by my troth,
One moment
of their vision,
if
we dared
Indeed to look, would make all cold and heat Which scourges this our temporal retreat
For ever more to us indifferent. But till the night's keen arrows shall be spent, Since this my wallet holds no cloak or weeds. But some few things which spring from Plato's seeds And one torn mass-book which I wont to use,
Do
not the
little I
183
yet
is
Some
better shelter,
till
A little quest may find, and I will guide My pace by yours and any hold espied
Will search to see
if it
in.
Doctor Seraphicus
Since every path should warily be trod,
And
God
we
begin.
Where
upon the
road,
;
Hearing the rumours of some bless'd abode I would make sure, in case we part at length,
Of
fit
provision to sustain
my
strength.
I
Some
I
need
Give them,
I pray, and may your quest succeed do remember, now I think, of one,
Who
By ghostly counsel left all goods behind But this would tax perchance your youthful mind.
Scholar
Master, no purse have
I,
Has
never
made me
sorry, since
a distant
heard
grieve
word
But now
I
Which
could true
life
impart.
184
My anxious heart must yearn to help in vain. Yet stay, perchance some scholar of the waste Beyond these woods, in worldly goods well placed, Might buy these books which I have prized full long Plato, like Aristotle, may be wrong But in this mass-book such shall find anon
;
The sounding
grace of
many an antiphon
I
And
Till
will
keep them
as
can in mind
it is
granted
priest to shrive
And
give
me
leave to serve
make
Doctor Seraphicus
Ex
hoc nunc usque
ad sternum
sit
pax vobiscum^
nobiscum.
The
I
so transferr'd
!
Sustain
streams of
thee be so reveal'd
!
That thou
Come
When
Submerged completely
Knows God no
185
worlds aside,
this
From
To
and that
is
And
Scholar
I
know
thee
now
in
days
ne'er forget,
For
my
most high
instruction,
we have met
seas.
In lonely places
yea,
by toiling
Where thou didst give me the first mysteries. I pray thee, being weary and oppress'd,
To
take
me
rest.
Doctor Seraphicus
little
while, herein,
we come
to each.
;
Exchanging symbols in the guise of speech A little while from one another go. And at the end the greater blessings know. Thou askest rest, and that is wisely said
:
If
me
bread
Scholar
do repent indeed my dearth of thought Who no refreshment in my scrip have brought.
I
On
my
content,
THE HOLY GRAAL
Until the great horizons are unfurl'd, To fast through all rogations of the world. an \_llie Scholar falls upon his knees in
. .
attitude
Master, to
whom
The poor oblation of myself I bring And at thy feet do place for good or ill. For thee thereon to work thy holy will.
Doctor Seraphicus
fair,
Thy Who,
sweet Lord, with what great power dost blessing to the poor of heart allow,
Thou
being ask'd for things full soon made void, Are to the uttermost unfurnish'd found. But yet full oft have brothers overjoy'd
By
In
Replenish royally, with open hand. Yet are themselves by bounty evermore Garnish'd with precious and increasing store Therefore, dear scion of the elect, hereby,
Before
all
!
worlds, truly
free gift
testify
That thy
Is precious first
Whence
from clean hands which give. And howsoe'er blind instinct prompts to live In things the highest as the meanest, most In those whose youth as yet has spent no fires
I
accept
Here comes
And
all
187
; ;
Thou
needed when
lasts
no longer than an hour's distress, As gold, however gotten, on his head Who taketh thought thereof, returns like lead As care of raiment and with cold to strive Will hinder those who would at ends arrive. And something seek to finish ere they move From courts of passion to high halls of love.
That
Now
And
I
therefore, to
make end of
all
that
means
do invite thee here to choose a track Which, far from foolish things of birth and
breath.
But instantly thereafter wider schemes dream of stars from star of dreams. Now, since the tide is late and none can tell What follows on hereafter, let us call Softly for help from Him which helpeth all, And so pronounce in patience our farewell, With mea culpa on the humbled breast The mass is over, ite miss a est.
Shall part the
Scholar
Master, acquit
it
(^having risen)
that
And
With
that, as
one to
cold
been given
do thus suddenly grow worn and old Herein it seems as if my days had past
veils
By many
of darkness overcast
span expend
And now
With
Yet through the shrouded gulches of the gloom, And past your prophet voice, thus preaching doom,
Persuasive tokens of a light long miss'd
Find entrance and with late appeals persist That in the common ways of Nature dwelt Great joys, for ever by those hearts unfelt Which do the cryptic paths alone applaud. So also suddenly the frosts have thaw'd, All turgid night from the empyrean rolls And earthly spaces fill with happy souls. Now, high as lark in heaven or deep as bowers Wherein the sea heals immemorial flowers. The world's great organ sounds through spacious
halls
And all the faithful fauna sweetly calls To hear how priestly Nature, ere they pass,
twelvemonth mass. lifts up The Seynt Graal overbrimm'd of the sun's cup. Meseems, immeasurable gain is loss Perchance not less unmeasured, and the cross, Which through the place of suffering spreads wide. In heaven itself no less counts crucified. But, making end of this, to die or not For all things good in thy horizon's lot,
Pontifically chants her
at
And
189
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
I
As
Make over, to accord my faithful pledge, The life I call my own to thy sword's edge. God grant me not with the last pang to strive And after death's dark sting me keep alive,
That past the rubicon of this world's rim, By paths unmanifest, I may reach Him Let us go forth, kind sir, lest all of bliss I, who have lost so much, at end should miss Peccavi cogitatione^ Lord
!
Verbo
et opere
Master
From
substitutes of joy which pall and cease
To To
spiritual place,
Sarras
Thee
takes,
guiding hand.
Which keeps the secret door in Mont Salvatch, And when thou tirlest trembling at the pin The keepers of the courts shall let thee in.
Scholar
I
Wine and
Were Then
I
thought
man
hidden plan
Was
cherish'd to delude
me
and undo.
Next Folly came in weeds of motley hue, With hair unkempt, who wildly spoke anon Of the waste years that have in wisdom gone
And
counsell'd pleasant ways, the which dispense His fond disciples from all sober sense. But I had learn'd some elements in books Whereat the Masters cast disdainful looks.
And
Our
In
thus, although imperfectly equipp'd. bales to ports asunder straight were shipp'd.
fine, it fell
With
less
than
could
call
my
own,
There gleam'd, with clouded grace and helping hand, A queen emerging out of Faerie Land
Who,
Did
human
tears,
offer
in
Then
That
my
spells to save from self seem'd needed then For me so strongly tried by maids and men. But at one orison that fair dame fled. For whom I pray no less the cross may come
At
So in great dark once more alone I dwelt, Until the magic of thy voice was felt Conversing, as from other years than these. Of life for life and such deep mysteries. And though it sounds to me a mournful word,
Thus on
manhood
heard,
191
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
I do believe, dear master, being thine, That it is medicine more than anodyne. But ere my sacrifice completed strips
My
one possession,
I
let
Declare,
in these
high mysteries
What
which may expound Wherefore man is so sorry on this round Of earthly things, why nought of joyance is Which at the end falls not to him amiss ?
is
Doctor Seraphicus
Surely the answer doth most plain appear
It is the secret
of
man
being here.
Scholar
What
its
sharp pain,
?
Doctor Seraphicus
Who Who
more apply
Scholar
But how and whither shall the mind be bent Which being here no more, is then content
.?
192
God
his grace,
Scholar
How
under heaven
?
To man
Doctor Seraphicus
If,
having sought
in vain
To
Scholar
I
me
on to thy
far goal
My flesh is weary of itself and drags A chain which sorely past all longing
Receive
lags.
my
life
and
let
me
see
my
soul
Too
Which
praise.
[Doctor Seraphicus
by the
takes the
Scholar
stage
^
as
Doctor Seraphicus
Line upon
line,
and there
is
none
left
out
When
193
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
Scholar
In maniis tuas
;
fair,
sweet Lord of
all
Thy Thorns
shall
crown me and
Thy
Cross enthrall
Doctor Seraphicus
Thus through
cold
the night, as through the wells most
Which must
I
take thee by a path which from the West Leads forth mysterium consummatum est
The mystery of
mortal
all
life
and thus
In depths beyond
Who
Perchance the East on high shall visit us, in such light expect the heart's increase.
\_Solemn music
is
light kindles
in
behind the
curtains.
white and gold draperies of the Second Order of the Graal come forward and clothe the
Scholar
tuary.
This
return E., parting the curtains of the Sanctuary^ so that the Shrine within is exposed for
the second
Priests
time^
the
of
and
the
The
Thereat
Scholar
194
meum^
Scholar
The
Hidden Chorus
very
softly
and
of the Shrine.
Chorus
From day
O'er
all
to day, because of
human
Mass
sins,
begins.
From day
on earth descends.
The secret centre offers mutely up The inward mystery of the outward
That which on earth is validly begun In many places, here conjoins in one.
Thereby,
in the
cup.
Doctor Seraphicus
Seeing, high brethren and adepts exempt,
That outward
may tempt
end
The
children of desire
but 195
in the
even
I,
Was
Some
with
certain wiles
Of
this
he
fail.
tests applied,
his need allied, by your holy leave, Some token of your favour to receive. That his translation may, by saving grace. From seeming death to very life take place.
bring
him
hither,
The
Hidden Chorus
of
Clean
Offerings
chants
Chorus
Once on the threshold of
this life's distress
The
Then man's
Forecasting
its fears,
of unfelicitous years
And
Hence
There
is
befalls that in the show which seems but dreaming and the dreamer's schemes,
befall
life
And
Whose
of
all
the great treasures which do perish not. doth behove us therefore, sadly placed
this, if it
Like
may
be, to
mend our
lot
And seek one high light shining in the waste Whose beacon, lifted through the dark, can bring
Alone our soul to its awakening. So past the gate of tears at length it sees That chasten'd steward of the mysteries be, Lift, on the threshold of the things which A consecrated cup of memory. [The Bishop of the Graal turns with
tended
ex-
arms pronouncing
the
Dominus
Vobiscum. ScHOLARfalls upon his face ; the Deacons The gather about him in a semicircle.
At the
HiddenChoruso/ Clean
Offerings again
Chorus
Hac
die laetus meruit beatas
Scandere sedes.
Finis
197
PART
III
When
so
much
fails
the soul
;
when
lights in flashes
the paths
we
trod
And
the green
life
What
The
then remains
The
soul's return to
God.
Through an immeasurable
Ascent
is
distance,
all
descries,
Who
And
Less
do no
home
at first
She to the Church appeals for ministries. Haply it follows that the soul, who there
Enters on inward
Despite the
letter
offices
of prayer
grievous chain
all
and
its
Church has
WHEN
The
PASSING
postulant
enters the
ministry, as
one
who
accepts
the
moment
the
second
best,
Greater Disillusion
Behold we
stand from
us,
all
deceit apart
;
Nothing misleads
and seek True life alone, asking for God through all, Having outgrown his sacraments and types
have reckon'd up 201
We
noon
And
truth with
in.
11
The Voice
of the Beloved
old,
That
Speak
which we heard of
in the floods
once more,
and near,
Amidst the rushing winds reverberate In the sea's music, mother of thought profound
And
Most
deepest feeling,
in
let
202
III
THE
The
FIRST RECOLLECTION
advance
in the several
in a certain sense
narrow, and few enter the Gate which leads to the Higher Palace.
Le Moyen de Parvenir
Straight
point
as the
To
Be our
shaped
in all its
And
let all
we
can meet
claims,
It is
it is
of
life
we looked
for time
if
little in
we
ness,
we
God.
It
might be written
th.it
we
shall be
203
IV
A PREFATORY MEDITATION
The
justice.
And
Through
Illumines
all
so
Onward
and the
flesh
Maintain their
still
within
but our
air,
life's star
the intellectual
it
mounts,
upward
Towards calmer
Aspiring.
mind
sea,
Our weakness
!
most, O mighty
Thy vastness and thy voices, strength with strength And ye too, ye lonely roads, Enduing Ye thickets only by the fox and bird Frequented, and ye populous human haunts
One whole gigantic heart, throbbing with Ye also help in your own high degree
But when these
fail us, life
as
our
last resource,
us in
Holy
Place
With
We
man
is
approaching
God who
deep
has
but
we must hope
that
in his
may
still
represented
by their
Names by the way of that substitution which signifies, in a summary, the whole mission of the Church, being the reverent and orderly communication of great auguries and tokens which
stand for things not
the Mass.
manifest
:
e.g.
The
letters
to learn
Are found in sacred books at every turn, Yet we in vain those characters may trace
Which
Name
itself,
only in the
Holy
The
interest.
great dis-
205
VI
good
to enter the
to the Altar,
for
thereto.
We tried all paths, nor found a road in one Sought many things beneath the wintry sun Which shines alone on this dim earth of ours But when the barren strife at length was done
;
Grace
came
free-handed,
with
unlook'd
for
dowers,
And
The
is
the
206
VII
man
asks to be
We
Thy And
Remain, so distant from Thy holy hill Conscious of nothing like the dreadful want And void within us full of rumours dark, Waiting Thy manifested covenant. The refuge of Thine Altar and Thine Ark.
The
this
is
soul
is
but
207
VIII
THE CONFESSION
is
he
Sanctorum
is
Foundations of Victory
LITTLE while in the ways unknown One little life have I sought Or possibly many lives to find That truth of truth which can fill the mind Nor have I fear'd to stand alone
The
I
false lights
false lights
went
how
!
fought with
it
And
208
The Dream
!
is
done,
Wins crowns
depart
work
for
"
Then, Hope,
But 'twas up with the stricken head, Still looking to meet the sun.
Therefore
I
hope that
a soul
on
fire
And though my
For weal has the wine-press trod. sins upon either hand,
me
stand.
They shall waste not my heart's desire, Which out of them leaps to God.
As
Salem
within.
we
desire
but
it
Eternal
City
is
209
IX
THE INDULGENCE
There
in virtue
several trades.
Presages
On common
Has man
and song,
still
under thin disguise they hold him But to the body and its varied need His signs and auguries alone give heed, Leaving those deeper symbols all unread
And
menaced by surpassing ill. Fear not malignant stars which may control The outward fortunes fear those stars within Which on the wide horizon of the soul
soul
is
;
Which The
say
The
soul
is
With
It
is
in
that
the
first
secret
consists.
210
WHEN THE
The
search after
PRIEST ASCENDS
TO THE
which
ALTAR
God
is
itself is the
When
and wearying
We
come
Which points the term of all will that As will make compensation overmuch
For the long
disillusions
?
be such
Who knows
It
is
God.
211
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
XI
AUFER A NOBIS
Man
is
a time-piece
which never
stops.
Purgation
LITTLE space of daylight and of gloom, delight, and then the tomb.
;
Whereat the whole is over and is gone Those scenes forget us where of old we toil'd
Sad
is it
Its
goes on.
Now,
Bid us,
Let
where Thy Holy Place begins. Thee, pause, and purge our sins we pray
remember
that enter
we
must.
212
XII
THE INTROIT
It
is
the concealment of
life.
God
in
sleep of this
An Opening
According
of
the Gates
We
soul's descent,
Him
alone
is
bent,
And must
in that
degree partake of
Him.
213
XIII
it
is
A NARROW
how
Esteeming
It
is
little,
in
the palace
214
XIV
GLORIA
The
IN EXCELSIS
The Secret
Peace
in
of Success
high places; on the peaks supreme, Far over passion's mists, deep peace of love Light of true light, the glory and the gleam
Far over troubled sleep, what worlds of dream Give space for souls yes, there is room above
is
a certain repose in
its
which dream
is
induction
is
215
XV
THE COLLECT
The
consolation which carries us along
is
Consummation
Fear
But
not frustration of our good intent,
fear the feeble
;
working of our wills which seeking went, Far as soul could, upon the great ascent What by the Word Divine say, God is meant
He
Do
that fulfils
trifles,
but
do not
let
them deceive us
2l6
XVI
also the
way of sorrow.
Ascetic Life
The
Is
end of self-denial
not to rack the
flesh,
Of
Adding
It is
burden
fresh.
And
How
patience
meek through
all
all
must
seek,
And
yet through
dispense
Must look
Not
Yet must
it
strive,
provided
;
To
Must
fail
on earth of each
still
hold out
To
217
purpose round
It
the greater,
in need.
still
human
hearts
Perchance
its
goal awaits
it
We
If
see
we but knew, our pains were few Ah, light our task would be
I
Task, do
say
What
spirit
Would
Whence
our
draw birth
knowledge Is here meanwhile our lot. And to forego but not to know,
act as if with
To
One
thing
is
certain only
to find
live
Earth cannot give for this to Dares not the man of mind. 218
star to lift
no bar
may
bless.
who
labour
eat,
And God
who
fast,
The Path
of the Cross
is
arc joined.
is
also
a path of sorrow.
XVII
THE GRADUAL
Great are the heights and great
of witnesses are numberless
diction,
;
the cohorts
but beyond
and to
this
we
Benison
Thou who
hereby.
dost
bless
us,
whom we
bless,
Before
all men, I rise and testify That by Thy grace alone I look 219
to live
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
That Thy dear gifts above the crowns of earth Are precious, being mine by right of birth,
And
There
is
hence
freely take, as
Thou
dost give.
Divine
in
complacency
spheres that
human
love.
Even
the
we
seek for,
it
is
XVIII
is
be moulded newly
it.
life,
Thrusting the past behind, with all it holds Of fair and dark Come, take with stalwart front Thither The future to the mountain heights
! !
We
stars
sun concur.
His hands
shall
hold
The shining stone inscribed with secret words Which hallow lips for prophecy, and give, Not only tidings true but sense thereof.
Man
life
is is
native
to
of his normal
a difficulty
of respiration
220
XIX
THE
It
is
FIRST GOSPEL
the
therefore
only on
feet
of the
On the Way
to Jerusalem
Unhallow'd exhalations, steaming up From passion's burning sacrifice, becloud The altar height whereon the soul enthroned
Sits, like a sibyl
on the divining
seat.
And
raves, inebriate
calm in Child of the Greater Dawn, not thou, long But chosen not in madness revelling
;
!
Who Who
looks abroad,
commanding
.?
call'd
.
if the
splendours of the
life
life
above
us.
This turbid
and two-edged beams With Refracted up and down from rocks and peaks
shafts of sacred light
Of spiritual
precipice, to rend
veil, this
This temple's
soul freed,
among
Some path
evermore
The
endless rest
upon the
life's
hills
from
far,
How
And
across
turbid, unanneal'd
And
commanding
life
and time,
And
calm
is
crown
await.
Salem
it is
a spiritual city.
XX
THE CREDO
Those
truths
it.
which most
call
for
which exceed
Inexpressible
Now,
let
us here in secret, as
if
drawn
Together in some holy place apart To welcome in the day-star ere it dawn,
Declare the hidden matter
heart to heart
Nay,
it
And words
The
by which alone
fact that there
it
testify.
test
is
one
for
is
to
the gifts
to say
:
We
Credo
in
222
THE POOR BROTHER'S MASS^BOOK
XXI
THE OFFERTORY
It
is
little
renounced ourselves.
True Possessions
Much
Is
Shall reach
who much dispenses; want him not, a constant stream of wealth round him drawn. From him who meanly
does he gain
hoards
His own,
is
What
gift
in
one
Centres alone
and every
Not
in the
man
inherent
whether
;
sent
From God
All things
directly or
we
attain
With the things which are of real value we have never been asked to part, but only with those tokens which are of temporal
convenience,
burdens.
some
of
which
become
encumbrances
and
even
223
XXII
THE OBLATION
There
of the
is
reason
that
why
are
silence
clamours
is
without
yet
the
is
expression of the
higher soul
imposed upon
us.
Expression
All
that once
we meant
to say
Deep
Rests unutter'd.
When
shall
man have
soul,
bonds' control
!
Deeper sinks the depth within, All horizons melt from sight, Till life's mighty waters win
And
The
this
The
need of expression
is
law
essential
imposed.
For the
native
and so also
is
light.
XXIII
may be
is
far,
but the
way
The
union of elements
in
motion and
therefore
man
goes on.
And
ground.
little
while,
till
he
is
taken
To
Leaving the rumours of his body and mind echo long before him and behind.
sun
p
Comes
225
XXIV
IN SPIRITU HUMILITATIS
The power
of arbitration
in
is
man
is
Two
mimes
Theirs
is
Destinies
class
best
with Nature's
No
Of
sports of Fate
his
Are we
doom
is
each
The
arbiter
it lies
Some
statue's
hand uplifted
waste
Each had
Who
shot for
them
inherited
We
all
Aim thus to find our dooms and so become Of our own fate the agents. We are free To choose a course, but, chosen, each must bear
Its true, inevitable
consequence.
The
226
We
in
the end.
Count therefore
Of our
we
More than a laurell'd Cassar triumphing, Though sold as bondsmen in the market-place Which makes our exile in these alien ways
!
It
is
mately with ourselves, but the great ends must prevail, and they
can prevail only in us.
XXV
IN
possible to receive
God
in
many
elements.
Venite
Weary
Come, we
Vapid are our pursuits and vain our lot But not so foolish we as to receive Thee
Communication
is
is
in
many
227
XXVI
in
the
Probation
Of many elements combined, we plead For Thy great blessing to assuage our need
In this wide world of dreams
!
God
last
from
these.
We
Where
The
a great
work of
inspiralion.
228
XXVII
Interdiction
The
That
Then dry
may
To
walk
at
dead,
up
:
in the sacred
mount
muteness full and rich In its still depths prepares the ground For other wells of mercy, which
Say rather
In later torrents shall abound
!
The
229
XXVIII
ACCENDAT
It
vital that the
IN NOBIS
in
it
is
The Unities
Diverse our
fire
little blest.
Only one
rest,
is
One
travail that
worthy of the
hire
The
dumb,
And
Unspoken longing for the King to come his great kingdom to be manifest
little
to assist
its
manifestations in the
we
can cherish
it
230
XXIX
well to
wash with the innocent, but it is a greater thing to fires which purge the guilty from their sins.
Misfits
Tis
To
take abode
up
in this earthly
Or naked
wear denied
that by-and-bye
aside.
We
And we
take with us
much
May
Cleanse
that
us
clings,
We pray Thee, Master ere thy sacred We enter, strip from us redundant things
;
And
The House
God
is
the
House of many
Lustrations.
231
XXX
SUSCIPE,
The
lasting
first
SANCTA TRINITAS
first
cup
to drink deeply.
in,
and a
little
space for
And
Then
is
more deep
all
paths untrod,
With room
for
men
to
walk
in
who go
are
forth to
find their
God.
We
offer
made
But do Thou give us of Thyself and thus A clean oblation shall be made by us Thou dost not need our offerings, but we Transmuting need, to make us gold for Thee.
!
The
space.
in
time or
232
; ; :
XXXI
SECRETA
So long
as
we
God, we can
Restoration
I
CAME
I left
Thee
at
Thy
bidding
put off
my
And came
I
have lived
In
in the
The scarlet fruits of knowledge and Have stain'd me with their juice for
I
From Thee
I
so sadly parted
my
sin
And
My
My
Nothing can
me
:
me
Thee
My
loss or
gain counts
little,
But Thou must need me since I need Thee so, Crying through day and night for love of Thee
The
bears to
carry us into
rest,
for a
same
Mont
XXXII
SURSUM CORDA
The
exaltation of the heart takes place after
many
purgations.
Secret Song
SAD voice singing close at hand, Thy words wc may not understand But strangely full and sweet art thou And thou dost soothe, we know not how. Perchance thy low refrain reveals, In sorrow's deeps, the well which heals.
!
great pity must surge for ever in the soul of the illuminated
all
man towards
motions
and
full
yearnings of Nature, so
full
of
impassioned endeavour, so
XXXIII
THE PREFACE
It
is
a long
watch
to the
morning, but
it is
in
the
great
for
vigil,
no ground
doubt
235
XXXIV
THE CANON
AH
the greater laws are
made
in the course
of our advancement.
Facilis Ascensus
What
is
it is
And
The
official
XXXV
COMMEMORATION OF THE
There
in
is
LIVING
as
a great
past behind
us
great
is
front.
Nunc Dimittis
How
perfect
is
Whose work
done.
gains
Can proudly
This
is
the head
consummated.
we have begun
body
it
this
life,
of
man
is
the
sum of
physical perfection
which
is
possible
XXXVI
less
guilty
than
he
From
the
first
dawn of
things
Thou
hast
me
fed
With many
All
Beyond those
which
lifted
bless
men
was
up
To
lips,
Thou
didst
My
angel-peers amidst.
I sat, all
Then
Thy
in the
board
Clothed
proper garment of
my
soul
237
; ;
and
rites
I
which make
did take
A A
rapture in
Thy
presence,
With
But
a most clear
remembrance of Thy
will.
some purpose undeclared, From Thy great temple's service I was spared
after, for
down
And
I
precincts fair of
Thine
eternal
town
not tired of
Thee
And
Thy
I
ministry,
Under Thine
Sufficing, efficacious.
But
And
which is earth's time outside, Far as my paths might from Thy throne divide, Deep as the depths might be which I plunged in Conduits and cesspools of the House of Sin
since that time,
I
do remember
still
Thy
Thus having
So that
I
low
estate,
cannot look up to
Thy
gate
To
of that chancelry.
serve and those
who
err,
Thou
dost administer
Thy
hands to bless
hands are good,
in the wilderness
gifts within
Thy
My
soul
now
238
And
My
And
And,
I call
lack,
Wherein I served in such uplifted state Ere I was put forth from Thy palace gate
Still
through
all
straits
kept
my
claim
on
them
And
my
diadem.
Perchance
fault
fell
Yet am
native to
Thy
own
temple vault
purpose.
Thou
hast seen
;
me from my
:
primal mien
less or
But be
my
guilt in
Thine eyes
I
Now
And
matters not
pray
more
!
Restore, restore
having given, as
Thou
To
one who naked can no longer The proper garments of the soul,
know
;
That
Give
to
:
Thy
"
banquet
hall
I
Saying
High Master,
man's meat and wine of vintage strong." Whereat, with fitting benison and grace,
me
They
shall set
down
my
place
239
my
lips
Thy
pages shall
lift
For deep,
free drinking
an
up
eternal cup.
Therefore, by
all
who
We
fall
XXXVII
of earth
is
the after
Restoration
As by his own fireside, in his own chair, man slips gently into sleep, and there Starts up awake once more in his own room,
Recalling
all
gloom
he takes.
in sleep
suddenly the
man awakes
To
find
him
not
known
is
that
240
impossible
it
seems almost
Ghost's
Hollow
my own
dream,
it
Over
Is
In a land that
I visit in
And
The
Is
dreamers term
a pallid
the world
unknown.
And
moving there with a vacant air, For this is the Land of Ghost.
a
As
Land of Ghost
is
the
Land of Soul
!
O
Do
The
Wraiths of the viewless bourne you hear, as I hear, the waters roll
who mourn
We
Which
downward track
follow,
But there
falls a
dawn
When a hand unseen lays hold, And into the hollow we slip, withdrawn
Over the grey lawns shrouded and
241
cold.
behind
But dole or laughter, who knows what Or what of the end assign'd ?
after.
Who
knows
Who
knows
From
Perchance on
a spectral host,
Far over
shall gaze on a Land of Ghost Land of Ghost is this land of life. With its phantom joys and woes) From a great true dream upon pomps which seem We shall gaze at that last who knows ?
Back we
a
(For
We
through many
initiations,
but a great
IBID
Those who have gone
Union.
before us are so
much
Manifestation
A
A
FIGURE
Which was
More subtly than the voice of men The message in the ear it spell'd
Was And
I live,
is
or
when
I die,
?
grave
where
thy mystery
spoken but
The
signified.
242
Hades
to return
its
spoils.
Dies Venit
Now
through desponding Hades, O my Lords and Ladies, Here ends the penance, here unbars the prison
heralds, passing
:
Proclaim
" Salvete !
He
is
risen
"
!
The Hades
visible
into
to
the
many
spirits in
The Mystery
slain
of that
Lamb
is
world
The
true
Golgotha
XXXVIII
NOBIS
The
greatest
QUOQUE PECCATORIBUS
work
in
the world
is
De Profundis
Though
Yet
I
oft
my
face aside
Father, in
light of glory
have look'd to
243
am
weary,
beseech thee.
!
XXXIX
PATER NOSTER
The
ment.
invocation of the
Kingdom
is
The Kingdom
From
place to place, with all
its
gardens
girt,
Slow moves the mystic city of mirage, Turret and spire and dome and belfry high. While all who look thereon do evermore
Carry strange longings
in their
haunted
eyes.
Oh fanes and palaces for chosen souls Oh floral emblems oh prophetic trees Oh visionary voices the long days And nights enchanting of thy streams,
! !
thy
birds
at a
touch
last
What
which
!
Oh
The
is
body of God.
244
XL
LIBERA NOS,
When man
enters into the
QU^SUMUS
Place, the
Holy
Kingdom comes.
Fellowship
When
When
darkness
falls
upon the
life
of mind
When
uncompanion'd
in
us in the solitude.
From
evil,
knowing what
is
right and
wrong
And
Thine
are long
!
He who
is
never alone.
245
AGNUS DEI
Both the emissary and the imputation are
symbolical embroideries of pontifical vestments.
in
That poor ambition and unwise content, Which, in the midst of veil and semblance,
left
Of the
behind.
It
is
The
purpose of
substitutes
life is
we who
condone
realities.
XLII
is
thought
Long
live the
King
EUCHARISTICA
Poor,
foolish penitent,
He
lives
Take comfort
He
Thou
Beyond
of
faith.
hast received
Him
in
thy sacrament
246
XLIII
banishment
is
Misdirection
We
have
falter'd in the
way
Who set us first to walk in the true way We have palter'd with the truth which they
pected
ex-
We
And
should
set so
gone
to
astray.
the
spiritual
all
roads lead
Rome,
one.
247
XLIV
ITE, MISSA
It does not really signify that the
EST
is
way
long, if
it is
that
which
leads
home.
Stars of Empire
From
At many
Halts
by the way to feast, Resumes her load and painful progress makes Back to the East.
Many
title
travels
may
still
remain, both
is
It
only by a
is
ever finished.
248
XLV
Wisdom
with
its
trumpet word
;
Chanted in uncounted songs, Up and down the endless ages Things divine in sacred pages
As
When
What
One
Only
to-morrow
can
still
is
to-day,
?
remain to say
one unheard
call.
all.
And
shall yet,
with clarion
is
itself a
mystery, operated
by the convention of
249
XLVI
DEO GRATIAS
There
forward,
is
is
weariness
but so long as
we go
it is
Gratias Agimus
For
now
is
We
And
It is night,
is
Thy
peace
But here
in the
as there
on
We
250
;!
XLVII
A VALEDICTORY ASPIRATION
Let
U8 pray, in fine, for those truly sacred offices
which
are not
in reality
impose themselves.
Of Priestcraft
Could God have given me my desire, Or if God would grant it now and here One boon, I wot,
Should wreathe
my
lot
a fire
I
As
the star
is
wreathed by
fear
would put my making of songs aside Vain strife to utter what can't be said And it should be mine The bread and wine, By mighty mass-words deified. To change in substance from wine and
251
bread.
Or With From
I
little
matters
height
in
crowded
street,
a soul contrite,
altar's
would nourish the empty heart With hidden manna and angels' meat.
yet,
Though
is
mine
know
They shadow
Holy and grand though the Church may be, The types it mixes with things foreshewn,
mundane
And, symbols
Yet may
hope,
unknown.
is it
Somehow
somewhere
over bold
it
come
to pass.
shall
To
me,
like Lancelot,
Knight of old,
my
Mass.
252
PART
IV
THE BOOK OF THE KINGS DOLE AND CHANTRT FOR PLAIN SONG
KING'S
DOLE
KING'S
DOLE
Holds
Being
vastness sacramentally,
its
mirror and
synthesis.
his,
frame refined And in pure motions of the natural mind. Thereto was added, far exceeding sense,
high perfection in
his
To
A certain
By
rare
and
secret quintessence
seek,
those well
known which
the
Holy
Place
And
the light shining from the Father's face. Thereby man's natural and human part With all the fire of mind and fire of heart Did suffer transmutation and receive The gifts from God of those who well believe.
Hence such high pathways of the soul he trod As are reserved to those who walk with God
And
All this at
legends
tell.
But in some way which passes mortal thought Man's royal nature unto shame was brought
Whence
that which once was elemental But held thereafter the divine desire 255
;
fire.
Such strange corrosion underwent and loss That angel gold was turn'd to dragon's dross, While the immaculate and virgin earth Was turn'd to common clay, of meanest worth. What evil spell O, image of the One thus prevail, the sacred legends tell. Could
!
state
there, disconsolate
;
there, inly
maim'd,
Within
Set, as
a desert
he could, amidst
pain.
And
his
Must man
Ah,
list
For on the straits and sorrows of the soul There came the balm and mercy of the Dole. Yes, the King's Dole from the King's Place was sent To soothe and strengthen in our languishment. And thus were some through many ages fed With wine transmuted and an alter'd bread,
By
Set
And
up
The
256
censers swing
KING'S DOLE
Burn in the darkness of our mortal days And, 'midst the sick humanities, do there
The
fail
And
as legends tell.
And so the soul of man, amidst the waste. Of its first nourishment can dimly taste,
Whereof
the saving virtue works within
Against the
venom of
the
life
of sin
The The
who
seek.
With
Still in
Each solemn
moving minister
The bread is broken and the wine is pour'd, The broken spirit is to health restored
And, wash'd from stain, the travel-weary feet Are fairly rested by the mercy-seat Then, through the open door which stands behind
The
altar, passing,
KING'S
DOLE
H,gh
Priestess of the
Sanctuary
^o/i/>.^
Maximus
MelchiseJec
Pater Servus Servorum SoROR Beata Pulchra The Loving Father Christian
Cross
Chantry
Virgin
A Stained
Rosy
Doorkeeper
The
Frater
.... ....
the
Child of the
tery
Mys-
The Familiars of
the
Holy
Office :
Comtnemorating Chorus
assumed Sanctuary of The Scene of this Greater Initiation is the the Holy of Holies behind the Holy Assembly, with the VeU of
the Altar.
259
KING'S DOLE
mystically
no Temple,
having a
the
Presence, in which
Rite
The
the
particular
Holy
Place
it
is
shewn
in
Faithful
Words
at
is
so simple
that
not
oriented
according
to
the
cardinal
points,
because the
The
West
inscribed, in
men and
words Mercy
is
and
Severity.
five
The
intervening
space
is
taken
up
by the
except
the
steps
not
attained,
at
Pillars,
is
the Place
of
At
filters
heavy curtain
to the
An
is
enormous
figure
Tau
of
Cross
lies
no
man extended
The Lamp
of
the
and the major lights of the Altar illuminate the place moderately.
261
They
through
Mercy.
number.
These
Holy
Office
these
There
are
is
crowd of worshippers
external
in the
Postulants,
Servitors,
of
tell
the
Lesser Grades,
who
the
in
orisons
at
the
side
chapels
offices
are
understanding
The Loving
Father Christian
The
chief,
General Assembly
in
commences
assuming
the
Ritual
Max'tmi
is
the
functions
identical
of
De?cons.
tiie
The
Liturgy
in
outward respects
with
there are certain changes in the Epistle and Gospel parts, while
the Preface, the Canon, and the Secreta seem entirely difFerent.
The words
of Consecration
are
unknown, but
it
is
supposed
more
secret Rite.
is
After the
altogether
The
Soror Janua Cceli having her back to the Tabernacle, the Pater Omnipotens, as First Deacon, being on the Gospel side of
at the
262
KING^S DOLE
Name
and Cause
laws
Of all which stands behind the written And is the last intention of the word
That even here
I
is
by no
Epopt
heard,
How Grace
And
abounding has all flags unfurl'd, Prompting me here and now to exercise That gift of ministry which in me lies
to decree forthwith a sacred thing
:
And
But heedful
that
all
be duly done,
With sacred names is this true Rite begun Some ye shall utter in your hearts, but most Praise clearly Father, Son 'and Holy Ghost.
Pater Omnipotens
know, High Sister, these are One Saving the Hallows and the Mystery.
We
in
Three,
What
is
brought
Pater Omnipotens
The
263
And what does reverence of reserve To this high formula of secret art ?
Pater Omnipotens
impart
That sacramental numbers can enfold The truth which never is by numbers
told.
The
sense hereof
Pater Omnipotens
They
The power
within
me your
reluctance presses.
Pater Omnipotens
The
But
truth
let
hold to
all
De
than great
KING'S
DOLE
Pater Omnipotens
It is
high estate,
less
contain
first
And
commend
us
to gain
rest.
?
All that which signifies and leave the What is the end by which a man is blest What exile fell upon him far behind,
Suspending
faculties,
beclouding mind,
How
shall
man now
holy track,
Some gospel fitted to the words of joy, Commission'd to fulfil and not destroy.
Telling that paths of rapture can be trod
And
God
Who,
faithful
Pater Omnipotens
They who
Wherefore
possess and can apply the keys. this hallow'd chantry, from the
first
Of
thirst
Was And
And
We
And
Doctrine which
not
yet holds
life's
seed
We
To
have
pilot
a charter,
which does in these confirm sanative for worn and weary eyes final and effective sacrifice
life
!
grace of
To offer this and so dispense the Dole, Accomplishing the raising of a soul, 266
KING'S DOLE
we come
for that
From
Our
more withdrawn, where other some, upon a perfect track, fulfil till we go back.
Pater Omnipotens
And
is
With decent
The The
craftsmen few to
For lack thereof And seek by public ways and green hedge-row.
Pater Omnipotens
We
And
in
We
One
And
takes them softly to this place apart For one great work of science and of art, Whereof we here divine the whole intent
As
deeply
fix'd in spheres
of sacrament.
Name
And
remembering,
Beyond
The
High
light, as ever,
its
on our labour
falls
Beyond
calls
is,
The still small voice, which unexpounded From formless, hidden and obscure abyss.
SoROR Janua Cceli
What
first
KING^S DOLE
To
Pater Omnipotens
Mistress and queen, the soul
is
guarded well
spell.
Even
in pools
of sense
still
works our
As on the heights where comes awakening And those which stand for stars together sing.
SoROR Janua Cceli
What
time
is
Pater Omnipotens
Dawn, and the watchers of the morning shout
who do
269
At
least in
PRATER AT OPENING
The dawn
of high rites comes like morning's dawn Be therefore with us from Thy seat withdrawn
!
No homage
Nor
hither unto
Thee we
bring,
blessing ask
who
live
beneath
Thy wing
And do Thy substituted lights reflect. Thou wilt not fail to lead and to direct,
While
fair success shall
Who
Nor The
Except with
to withhold
what can
in quest avail
Success
Which,
Gives entrance
And
The outward church unseen but surely lead By ways of exile, far as woes attend. Through inhibitions which by turns suspend, That all who at the Temple's porch begin From step to step may climb and enter in
!
270
: ;
KING'S DOLE
holy shroud
They may find egress from the field of cloud, Nor wholly fail who have in fine recourse Sole unto Thee who art their primal source
;
fire
of cloud to light of
fire
And
past
all fires
Wherefore the
May
all
in
Heaven
[yf pause.
Beyond these vestured regions of the mind, Beyond the rays which pierce through gulf and The veils beyond, into the Church behind That so when term is more with font allied
;
rift,
And May
construed aside.
The weaker
Brothers,
we here complete
a sacred thing,
!
Which
is
and in the Name beyond That greatness, whereunto all stars respond. And by the power within me vested here, I open widely these great gates Draw near The treasures of the Dole are offer'd free Let all thereto entitled come and see
In the great
:
Name
the Chantry.
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
with the
lifts it
High
Priestess,
The two Deacons form a halfwho takes the Chalice from the
Altar and
on high.
Pater Omnipotens
Here
is
man
shall die.
The
Its
messengers
Holy
THE BOOK OF THE
The outward
KING^S DOLE
gloom
Say for what end we here and now assume Into the place apart shicc time began,
And
man
One
command
Decreed since epochs immemorial, Beyond all offices of heart and hand, That, since the chosen follow on the
It
call.
may
at length
be possible to
tell
How
The earthly elements are taken up From sacrificial paten and from cup.
That things which here
are visible,
made
clean,
May
We
And
Has
With
whatsoever
order
known
shewn
s
273
But with much worship, for the rest, herein We do remove them also and begin
To
As
Takes forward
And
To
We
who
hold, confer.
Not from
Now
And
At
let
this point
Mass
is
resumed, subject to
High
and Deacons
is
in
Liturgy.
The
Ordinary
again
suspended
Communion and
the
We
To
At
are not
worthy
in
enter
cleanse us
Pater Omnipotens
communicatee
bowed
Gospel
274
KING^S DOLE
We
are not
in
worthy here
Thy
gifts to set
Do Thou
The Frater
FiLius
hands of
the Celebrant, in both kinds with uplifted face and high extended
The
the Hosts on the Altar, at the southern side of which she then
The
Little
is
Rosa
white robes
genuflections
Rubric.
She
up the
paten,
turning
towards
Cele-
brant-in-chief.
SoROR Puella
The body
of
God defend me
The High Soror communicates in the element of bread. The SoROR Puella replaces the paten, exalts the chalice and again turns
towards the Celebrant.
SoROR Puella
element of wine.
The
275
The
She
and prays
life
of
life in
me
remains kneeling
subdued voice
Do Thou
An
infinite
Pater Omnipotens
There
is
Of man
By any ways,
With
silent
: !
KING'S
DOLE
!
Worlds to the Crown, but still a world above All fonts and springs and wells are those of love
The Deacons
face
rises
it
rise
Ahar and
Cfr.i.i
Soror Janua
alao
any novice,
at the
who
And
alarms,
see
Stands
postern and
is
meet to
What lies beyond all common chivalry, Let now the open'd postern take him through If any Master past his chair of state
Discerns the splendour of a further gate,
still
outward cure. Seeks other oils than those which first anointed, For him the chrismal treasures of the Dole Are open'd, like the arms of mercy, wide
ministries of
To humble
To work
The
And
rites allure.
A silvery
Chancel
;
of
Mercy
of ingress opens
he
is
277
whom
lighted
The
Candidate for
advancement,
in the
termed
white
F rater
friar,
vestment of a
also encircled
by a
faint
before and behind on his habit, and he wears a large ring of profession
on
his
sign of con-
The Loving
in
Father Christian
left
Rosy Cross,
side,
as the
Warden
cushion.
The
The
Familiars of the
Holy
As
the
with the
triad.
on the
crook.
High Soror Janua Cceli forming the centre of the moment a large Host rises from the chalice Altar and shines with transforming light. The High Abbot
At
the same
The
Frater
Millibus vix
him.
unum
whom
he stops
The
Whom
lead
you hither
in vain
Epopt call'd and Most Wise Sovereign, He, having first as Postulant been brought,
Was
seal'd
278
KING'S DOLE
good time,
in
He
And
Wild wings he
And
Some
waking
state.
dim
sees
Of
life's
As unto one who half, ere morning, High semblances of lesser mysteries
And
takes refreshment of false wine and bread. Thereat illumin'd and discomforted. As many seekers have before him found.
He
Already
And
So thence
came
human
love
Taught
Ofi^er'd their
mist, he knew,
At
least
And
took therein
Thus time and circumstance the groundwork By lights which in succession fade and fail,
Of some fantastic broideries of the veil. And Nature sanctified was set aside.
Far reaching ministries, which deep and wide Forth spread their missions, at the first were
tried
And
full
Of
one would think, alone dreams which haunted him, unknown Suggestions of the something which subtends All that is here discern'd, which somewhere ends In the great term of God, yet does not give Meanwhile sufficient food for souls to live.
So was he
who
By
certain secret
magnets
constrain'd,
Did more
consistently aspire,
and trod
The
May
True
many
roads,
They
Are temporary
hand
circumstance
And
till
Shew forth the true path for the soul's advance. Thus was the Candidate supremely taught
And through
With
Touching the most high sacring of the Mass. In moving pageants first the Rite appeal'd. Some quests, some meanings of the Graal reveal'd
And
KING'S DOLE
his heart disclose
rose
And
underneath the vastness of their screening tinctured heart of the more hidden meaning.
restless soul, to gain its end,
Therein the
treasures of
its
force expend.
Out of
the
dim
allusions and
mere hints
It strikes, in
So that beyond the dark it dimly sees Penumbral gleams and hallowing mysteries. The signs and portents of the light which lifts
Its
rifts,
By work of secret winds, were thus laid As pathways giving on the clearer air.
So taught the soul
itself
bare.
Thus on the matter of the work it wrought. Through all purgations, the refiner's art,
Transform'd and perfected from grade to grade. The substituted maxims which depart
From all convention's ways, the lines new laid. Unto high semblances of doctrine led. Hence it is meet and right and just that such,
Being perchance exalted overmuch By great subsidiary names, should now
Take higher pledges and adventure how From mystic death are raised, in fine, the As sponsor of the Epopts, upon whom
I certify,
dead.
tomb,
And
I do proclaim this Sovereign Prince has shewn His title-deeds for entrance to his own And call on those who here the Dole dispense To grant him quittance for departure hence.
SoROR Janua Cceli Most loving Father, your commands, disguised As meek petition, shall in order due Our notice gain who, otherwise apprised. Hold in remembrance the memorial true Of this beloved Epopt and most wise
Prince of the Royal Secret, held from eyes
And when
fitting
Of
Scaling
Unto
this end,
Prithee,
commend him
floor,
Resume your
is
late
And
all
282
KING'S DOLE
Mother Church
time-long search
my
And
in
part of the Hall and passes for the time being out of sight.
Frater
Come
forward
leads the
Candidate towards
The
Wine
Receive you
The
Abbot
right
in that
is
placed
by the Great
free.
Your pledges and disownments, sworn of old At each symbolic grade and high degree Of your advancement, in our rolls we hold
:
Do
freely here
and now,
to take a final
vow
The Candidate
Prove me,
Which
here begin to
My
I
follow
now
and, as
it
seems, proceed
Thither, whence
first I
Beyond the offices of priest and These obligations from the soul
dissolve
And
Whence
my
faithful pledges
Should, in the
by the edges
Of my precipitous path stand round to-day, Keep me equilibrated in the way And save me at this last from the abyss.
For now, meseems,
I
come where
great death
is,
And
I
have sustain'd
it
my
Full time
No
less, if
grows my cross should carry me. other vows than these must be, 284
KING'S DOLE
what once
was
The
the
left
circle
about
the
Candidate
a
little
Abbot of
Chantry,
who
stands
to
behind him.
The
And
closer far
But that firm faith to which your heart responds Declare, and comfort us, in place of bonds.
The Candidate
(^With
bowed head.)
do
recite
my
fix'd
adhesion
first
To all those sacred symbols which the Of human nature illustrate to reach
thirst
Things which exceed the limit of our speech. I call on God to witness I receive Their import full and do in them believe, Saving the solemn clauses of the art Conceal'd, by which the greater truths impart And do at need interpret lesser things. 285
One God
in
Persons Three,
task
claim to
make
Unto which
my
soul the
title
I
brings
slept,
From common knowledge ever in my heart. Whether made known at secret shrines apart. Where the great rites are work'd, or half divined By inward ways untaught, the same were shrined
In depths of thought which speech has never stirr'd,
Lest
Further,
Did first in saving ways my soul rejoice But when the hour arrived to reach her term.
At
can affirm
That
To
I
do acknowledge with express intent How far the outward Church my soul's ascent Prepared and did exhibit if at last Beyond such ministries advanced I past,
;
I have not ceased at need to own her claim, But have extoU'd her Holy Place and Name,
And
my
lips.
Hence
if I
go
this
Horizons,
let it
be as fortified,
286
KING^S DOLE
At least in thought, with her last rites, that so The plain believer shall not come to know Aught for his strength unmeet that other way Some souls tread, jjiortis in examine.
to
man
By hallows of
I
do
affirm that he
who
entrance wins
life,
begins
No tittle of the work is abrogate And that, however far proceeds the
All high assemblies
still
search.
And
The hand
that guides
is still
To
all
The outward
While
Chantry.
the
recited
the
Familiars of the
Holy
is
Office remove the seats of the Celebrants to the South side of the
When
;
made
broken up
the
High
Priestess
the
first
of which
the
High
whom, by
his
direction of the
knees and
communicates
by
in
which
is
veils are
withdrawn
287
We
We
also
know
And happy
sacramental modes
Yet
in the
end
goeth thence
And
all
powers deploy.
That
Law
Divine
Which
And
due turn each come to understand will upon the consecrated hand
in
And
The Great Abbot bends slightly the head of the Candidate, who is still on his knees, and the latter kisses reverently the hand of the SoROR Janua Cceli, who at the same moment stoops
forward and gives him the Osculum Fratermtatis on
saying
his forehead,
:
288
THE BOOK OF THE
The
Lip
service of
KING'S DOLE
my
hands
take,
and give
service, that in
may
live,
Tlie Great Abbot raises the Candidate and places him with his
Frater
Most Wise, by these and other titles since Those who in mysteries their advance attain Must put aside both titles and degrees
Fulfil
your
final
Who
whom
The
his
Candidate
specified
still
faces
insignin,
not
otherwise
in
the
Rubrics,
Vestments.
The Candidate
Brothers of the Veil,
The
By which my
set
To
this spot,
Or work
Among
289
And
Here
King
pause
made upon
leave
I
the wing,
In native poverty,
my
take
Of whatsoever, for the mystery's sake, Has been held precious in the outward ways. May God his faithful of the nave and aisle
Raise to the chancel in a
little
while
And on the hidden secrets let them gaze May those who stand without the sacred fold, Versed in the ways of folly and of sin,
Receive the
call
is
sold
in
!
extinguish
their
the
exahed Deacons on
vessel
turns round,
it.
the
sacred
with the
Host
falls
shining above
At
the same
moment
the Great
Abbot of
the Chantry turns the Candidate, so that the light of the Elements
upon
his face.
step.
He
The
then directs him to kneel upon the lowerprocession approaches with extinguished
most Altar
The
is
now
There
little
a great
hush of
silence, in
which the
still
air
The Soror
of
The Loving
the due South,
Cubic
Stone,
The
Mors Janua
290
KING'S DOLE
toll
The
bells
muffled
sound.
The
the
procession
disperses.
before her.
On
Host there can be discovered very faintly Lamb, in place of the canonical Sigillum.
The
sting
is
;
sharp
its
victory
is
brought
To
nothing
common
faculties of
thought
Through dissolution pass and are not found. Here is inflicted the deep, orbic wound Which does not fall on tissues and on nerves Unerring work of hand which never swerves,
Striking within, beyond the place of sleep,
To
a soul
may
sweep,
Past
And
seal'd.
exile's leave
we are not worthy to receive Thee in our house, nor stand in Thine, but Thou Hast come among us to instruct us how Some need divine impels Thee to fulfil
Sent forth,
In our respect
Thy
By many names we
And
Through which
we come into our own, In truth, as sleepers from their swoon awoke By that great title undeclared we do In fine receive Thee, and with homage true.
length
291
which no
now
bowed head of
the Candidate.
Lamb
As from
chalice.
The High Priestess breaks the Element of bread over The Communicant raises his head, about which
ordinary
the the
after
manner of
layman.
is
When
he has communi-
words
By
this
To
postulants exhibited,
are the
may
those
Who
Shew
Mercy
leads
To Understanding, as a broad, still sea, And thence in Wisdom's further deep recedes
So may
its issue at
Not
in the
Kingdom
but the
Diadem be
The Candidate
In
Thy
strong hands
do,
my
God, commend
end.
My
KING'S DOLE
The Familiars of the Holy Office May this man's soul, and all whose souls with
Are
join'd by faith, attain that rest
in
his
which
!
is
Reserved unmanifest
worlds to come
The Hierophants
Strong
men
in chariots
and
in horses
some.
bring,
But we
in the
To
Hear
Lord, invoking
Long
live
293
Gods
is
A
for
veil
is
laid
upon
funeral
litter.
The Chancel
Holy
is
now
The
Familiars of the
Office
move
silently over
the floor
The
the
candles,
but
flickering rays,
Altar
steps
the
The Deacons
minister
about
and the
purport
not distinguishable.
Subsequently, the
:
High Soror
it is
well
falls
on
Israel
The Hierophants
And on
thy
spirit, as
of old
it fell.
Of
sounds
all
secrets in the
Kingdom heard
294
THE BOOK OF THE
Are
utter'd
;
KING'S DOLE
nothing
is
Deacons
My
I
fault,
my
fault
and
my
most grievous
salt,
fault
So long
as
do repent
The High
Presanctified.
in the
Priestess
and
Deacons
rising,
prostrate
themselves
on
Mass of the
their
They move, on
sit
in
South, and
downward on
knees.
They
remain
this
whole ceremony
of the Candidate's raising, except for the share which they take
in the burial service.
of the
Chancel, scattering
her
dead
leaves
and withered
blossoms.
still
know,
Through each
And
With
the
calls
that
friends can
make on
friends
295
is
like
my woe
Does not
my
Can ever bear that those who lie beneath Are folded closely in the arms of death ?
And
Is
as the
shroud about
maiden's head
mournful evidence that one is dead was most fair and little stain'd, we trust So do all legends which my loss recount Praise that which issued from the primal fount And was so free and beautiful and pure That virgin earth had little kin with dust. But the woe came and woe must still endure, Though not indeed was mine the conscious fault. Fierce war's most bitter fortune, in the vault Now peopled by the planetary ghosts, As by mute substitutes of former hosts. Thus on me uninvoked there fell the curse Which work'd the shipwreck of the universe Angels and men were both involved therein, As by asonian strife where none could win. So that which first came forth inviolate Through bright creation's newly open'd gate, Suffer'd a ruthless sacrifice and fell Within the circle of the dreary spell
Who
Which time
Starving
all
knowledge of
its final
term.
scatters
wither'd
296
KING'S DOLE
As one who
Has
For
which pass'd
cast,
have ever
me
Than common stroke of death more utterly. Thou wast not mine therein, and here it seems
That, coming out from
all
And Thy
all
my
daring
thought.
By ways unknown,
to tenebrae of gloom,
And
In doubt
Than
Truly thou
I
art
not mine in
life
or death.
whom
thou
art,
Though
Me,
for
Such witness faithful, full of vows, I bear That all my claims on thee who liest there,
If not fulfiU'd, at least extinguish'd are
:
The cup
me
raise
no
bar.
297
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
I,
Since that
World's prince unwillingly awhile allied, must hold which here my hindrance
restitution,
is
From
who was
sanctified.
Do
Tempests remain and tarries tardy peace. Nor tidings come from ends where labours But thou returnest on thy starry track.
The SoROR Beata Pulchra,
about the catafalque,
is
cease
floral
basket
the
Pillar
of Severity.
She
pauses in her exit, turns to the East by South, and in place of the
secret and invariable signs of the Chantry, she gives the Sign of
rises
Where
is
is
shed
PUELLA
(From
the western
is
The
light
man
is
dead.
Are
298
KING'S DOLE
He
His
has earn'd
prefer.
To
those
:
who
first
Mark'd
No advice wherein
all
grades concur.
we
in short
proceed
To
The
knees.
the high
office in
he presents on his Thurifer approaches with censer, which the Deacons rise and take it ;
receives
She passes
to the
sun, and the mcense which she circumambulates, following the The circumambulat.on fumes over the veil with aromatic fragrance.
in a semicircle at some being completed, the Pontiffs pause Great Abbot of the Chantry from the bier in the East. The following an extinguisher, circumambulates, with
distance
one light
in the
formulx ;
Light
things,
The Light of Life, the light of outward its Kings. The semblance of the Kingdom and
299
fantastic
gleam
of dream.
in the tide
At
the
Third Light
down
the
earthly
towards
heavenly
At
the
Fourth Light
when
the
The The
flush of conquest
first
gloom
reveals
libation
heals.
At
the Fifth
Light
man
arrived
The middle
To
all
At
the Sixth
Light
The Light
To
By far devolving ways and heights uptending, For those who keep the virtue of ascending As others keep well-ruled an inward fire. 300
KING'S DOLE
the great desire
halls
calls,
Light
fashions
first
To
and
Which
those receive
who
And And
He
is
candles.
At
the
Eighth Light
That
lifts its
and sings
:
higher things
prophet
and strong
leader
faculties of reason,
keep
Some
And
common
vision unexpress'd.
The Bells of the Chantry again toll The Great Abbot of the Chantry raises
and
carries
it,
slightly
exalted,
by the
Altar.
301
And
blessed are the dead whose souls go forth Beyond the darkness of the mystic North
To
all light
increased
Resumes
still activities.
Pater Omnipotens
Beneath the realm of internecine
strife,
life.
The
The
life
am
He that He may
And
The
Light
I
me
believeth,
be dead, shall
will raise
him
tenebras alarm
is
is
moment
in
the Tabernacle.
Chorus of Hierophants
Ye who
I
are laden,
come
302
KING'S DOLE
Holy
;
Office
O O
grave
where
is
thy victory
?
and where,
[y^ long pause.
death
thy sting
SOROR PUELLA
{Speaking from the western end of the Chancel^
there
mystic days.
are swarth
And
still
he
is
not dead.
He
Pater Omnipotens
Time grows
to waken.
303
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
Darkness.
unknown hand
raised over
it,
as
it it
The
Chancel
is
closed
down, though
smoke
at intervals.
veil
who
begins to speak.
The Candidate
He who through
And where
of days.
But grasping what abysses intervene And what suspensions of the vital law Obtain, from Aleph in the heights to Tau, One great experiment of him lays hold Who once, he knows not how, his birthright sold 304
KING'S
DOLE
The secret ways to follow, where they trend From Tau to Aleph, and attain his end.
These having found and being fain to But knowing also that the goal is far,
I rise
start,
And
Lo,
I
take
all
my
star.
who
so far
am
led
!
am
[The Candidate
rises in shado-w.
shall
not
Once and
for
all
Thou dost not call for angels, nor hast need Of outward mentors to assume the lead.
Shall render
While every step upon the forward track it the harder to go back.
And
More secret than the serpent's wiles, reverse All human judgments so there lives not one Beneath the common splendours of the sun, Or in the hidden lights of those whose course
;
Is lifted
of grade
in fine,
virus
is,
305
Thou
Farewell to sleep, and dreams for thee are quench'd An age-long vigil is hereafter thine,
And
Which is exhibited, through inward force, Most patiently to that not less within
Conjoin'd, that torrent inexhaustible
To
Pours,
the soul
is
is
vivified
and fed
And
so
consummated.
We
Be
vigilant, be
wary
in
advance
And
That
do
whom God
calls
We
Help
be derived at
may unto God be led. may true need and now to you
High
Observance
raises into
limpid light.
far,
He who
The
has
come thus
with one
last veil
all
holy things
tall
palms
in sight,
KING'S DOLE
And
While the great epopt circle him enrings Once and for all, and then the past is past.
Shall there be need to say, with such degrees
Received, that
all
the
flames
Of outward
life
With portent lights ? In spite of narrow grooves, The deeper meaning round the slighter moves
;
his
mother's knees
in
been offer'd bread and wine for God, But shalt henceforth, by this advance of thine, Receive Eternal God for bread and wine.
God's body then was taken to thine own, Now must thy soul into His Soul pass on Wherefore thy part in earth its term attains
And
left for
greater gains.
The Candidate
As one far-travell'd, and withal outworn, Or one in a new planet newly born. The higher ministries of health I need Give me to eat and drink strong meat indeed
:
307
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
THE FOURTH OBSERVANCE
The Candidate
is
instituted in
Light
veil
to
behind
The Loving
The
file
Familiars of the
out.
Holy
Office
at the
marshal
at the
The
Hierophants
The
the
Soror Puella
Presence.
is
Rosy Cross.
in
The
becomes
this
manner
Chamber of the
The
Candidate,
who
has knelt
raised in solemn
in the
form by the
is
Cceli,
and
this raising
Light
the
per-
without
words.
of
Chantry,
to her
throne in
Deacons only
where
High Mass.
When
all
is
ready the
into the
of the Sacrarium
is
come
Com:
But
still
in place
of the Post-Communion
High
The Lord is with us and with thy spirit too, The which henceforth by ministration true
Shall be pour'd out
Directing others
KING'S DOLE
Which
This
is
gathers
man
into the
Holy Mount.
Which, that the city and world may know thy fame, By power within me vested, I proclaim.
The High SoROR
scend the Altar
their seats
steps,
de-
make
the
Candi-
date
is
thus
The Candidate
Most
faithful witnesses
in the
and told the withdrawn, invisible King abode Beyond all gates of knowledge and the road By which his secret palace must be sought,
;
Who How
Kingdom took
Dark Open
is
the
at
rifts
Exhibiting, as
And
But closing
spells
and semblances
collect
The Has
on
day
Crown away,
sense.
sat in exile
STRANGE HOUSES OF SLEEP
Have
intervened because of man's defence,
On many
But
still
advance
And
Shrouded
The world's whole hope is in the paths which rise Through spheres successive, by which first the Crown
Transmits benignant influences down. As sacred wine is pour'd from sacred cup,
Crown go
up.
are steep
Do
Yet
doubtful
rest.
By him who has been worthily prepared, Not for rejection in the end is dared.
and of stress. from tumult into silentness, From which no voice on peak uplifted high Has ever come but once to testify. Now therefore in the road from star to star. By great election having come so far
after length of labour
He,
Shall pass
And
I
call,
all
my
Chantry
office
here begin
And
by these presents have myself read in. I know what Virtues from what veils behind My ways have watch'd and have my path assign'd,
310
KING'S DOLE
make known, beyond the outward Church, The Great Assembly's work which leads unseen. But having so been taught and thus made clean.
to
The
hand Is here made one, and that enlighten'd band Has join'd which doth from stage to further stage Assume the Church, and every closing age Seal with a certain sign of progress won.
soul, once guided, with the guiding
Dear
friends,
when
And
go,
men me
on.
For one point more in this our Mystery Then shall the Chancel be restored with peace Unto the Church External, to increase. We trust, the graces and the favours kept For those who long the faithful sleep have slept,
their sanctity in
dreams
And
Through
May
If
aught
you,
is left
beseech
in
That my
deficiency,
atoned
each
Of
my
peers,
may
be so well fulfiU'd
shall follow
I
than
we
will'd.
whom
once belong'd,
One Out
creditor unwittingly
shut
I
trust
all
To
I
star-dust
will
exchange for
he and
I
stars
When
shall
come
My
mystic
less
titles
no longer may from great divide, times perchance their memories shall stir At Faint odours of sweet spikenard and of myrrh, And in the outward worshippers' suspense
That
The
rise as
We
which
Some
Beyond
The
by
speech
do thou
at parting bless
triple
Tau
traced
312
KING'S
DOLE
The Candidate
Be healing ever in thy holy wuigs The sign evoked from the great sea art thou Deep Understanding in the Chancel now
I
The great diaconate Of lesser office, are the tokens here Of emanations to the Crown more near,
And
those
take
Three, by intention one, and one in three Last sign dissolving towards reality.
In veils like this
we almost
:
see the
dawn
!
Bear witness
The
light In
still
am
Candidate, with a new Celebrants resume their seats and the veil of tlic passes behind the Altar, opens the his nimbus,
The veil closes behind him and Mysteries and enters within. Resurrection pours with power through it the radiance of the First this the There Is a brief space of silence, and after and Plory and slowly from behind the veil, that Candidate speaks very softly which is over against the Sanctuary of the
is
to say, in the
Chantry
it
but not in
it.
The Candidate
The The
root of roots and basis of foundations, alone place of prudence which the wise
in their labours
own
Dominations, This, after Orders, Choirs and lead, to the most high Lead's, and can only
Knowledge of the
divine priority.
;;
named
as well
The
Twixt God and man with high uplifted hands The Sabbath and the rest of those that dwell Within the higher peace of Israel.
From outward zones hereof the influx falls, From star to star, through palaces and halls,
And
As
he that knows
or
in at least
such part
These deeps, discerns the well of generations And how the soul, unclothed and lightly shod,
Through human
God.
So
is it,
sonship
leaps
to
that
of
sea,
I
What
orient
know,
I
When
do proclaim that there are many heights. Whereof the first alone the Fathers trod
I
see
beyond the
still
utterly from symbols freed, E'en in these holy places, knows indeed At once the grace behind the sacrament
entrance to the
maze of God.
And
it,
which has
The dim
allusion of
more high
intent.
;
KING'S
DOLE
Of visible,
superinceding rays,
to
mark
the dark.
by the Deacons of
tlie
High
Altar.
The
Holy
in the Office
proper
Masses
for the
Dead,
is
The
is
usual Benediction
is
followed by
is
not
King's
Dole
is
315
THE HIGH
OFFICE OF CLOSING
THE
KING'S
CHANTRY
the Chancel
Epistle and
steps.
The SoROR Janua Cir.Li faces the Western end of The Deacons do likewise from the
sides, standing respectively
Gospel
The
Holy Assembly
and are
common
to all
we know
the
the mortal
life
of
man
By one Which
For But
all
incredible divorce
began
did
bride
the calculable times divide
;
restitution shall be
made
at last,
Old rights restored and all suspensions past Unto which term, that loyal hearts attend, This holy grade we bring to hallow'd end.
Pater Omnipotens
Take
these last
words
all
at parting
from
:
a soul
Drench'd with
goal
light conceived
The
greater
Lies infinitely
far,
and farther
still
316
KING'S DOLE
:
Beyond the dream that we can shape is He, Without distinctions born of thee and me
fill.
O primal We have
What
and immemorial first, put on perfection and our sin Have set aside, yet end as we begin, A-hunger'd and unquenchably athirst
is
We
To
rest
not even
in
Give us that greater marriage that will leave Neither the soul which toils nor hands that weave,
compass
Thy
Thy
will
:
work
The
Take back Thy plenitude and us take back. Leaving of all we were nor sound nor rack
To
Is
any brother, by the Altar's call. serve entitled and assume his stall. of his rights unwittingly bereft.
hence
is still
And
among
We
To
abrogate
all
Each Son of Doctrine in his class shall gain The end design'd, and none without remain Whose strife is firstly to be purged from sin
And
work unseen
at large,
Can out of
lesser
317
; ;
We
The
lips
have known,
Participates,
sleeps.
We, who have reach'd the heights, do know out of many regions of the curse Have risen to possess the universe
the deeps
And
So on the deeps we
call,
We stand
By many
our arts
Do
exercise to rescue
and redeem.
Do we
all
know
For we have
And
felt the chastening and the rod, through great sorrows have gone up to God,
is
To
God more
is
deeply heal'd
And
that beatitude
union
seal'd.
The creeds and dogmas into silence fall They gave us many nothings who need the
So therefore solemnly, with reverent lips. Out of our hands the sacred vessel slips
All.
The
Christ,
Who
we could
318
voice sufficed,
KING'S DOLE
An
who
all
fall
Beyond
Where
I
High Name which is not spoken here, ministries of Names no more appear,
Chapter of the Epopts brought.
close this
By many doctrines in the Churches taught. Unto the sacramental world's first term and verge, Whence secret paths on other spheres emerge. By these the soul must issue forth alone.
If ever
it
its
;
own. no more
Now
rites
The consecrations which prevail'd of yore The soul exalted learns alone to live, Whence every pledge of him who gave I here
:
Without reserve into his hands restore. That he who in the light of light is wise
May offer as he please his sacrifice And those about him to their end bring
That
near
souls which follow on the call of grace signs and letters can
Where
no longer
kill,
And May
work
319
all
Hall
fire
and cloud
To
Now
And
finish'd
Coeli is led behind the Altar, and 80 by the Eminent Pater Omnipotens and the
Exempt Prater
Filius Redemptos.
shade devolves
the Rite dissolves.
The Spokesman
And
External,
let
of
the Hierophants
King of Kings,
;
Once and
As
Acknowledging the Lord of every Host The Triune, Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
The Foreman
Most meet
it is
of the
Holy
Office
320
KING'S
DOLE
Hierophants
:
Well done, thou faithful servant enter in Those nuptial joys which in the Lord begin
The Foreman
of the
Holy Office
We
hold the Rosary, since beads began, Most helpful to salvation of the man
;
We
do commend
to
all
by
The system
And we
of paid Masses for the dead desire to see with one accord
The Spokesman
While
of the
Hierophants
we
wait,
The
The
Epopts
file
out through
the Pillar of
Mercy and
Holy
of Severity.
The Loving
hood of a servingcapacity as Gate-Keeper, assumes the cloak and up and he sells to them scapulas and The Faithful crowd
friar.
Agnus Dei
at tripods.
tokens.
The women
Father Athanasius
in the pulpit
of the day.
321
my
this wholesome maxim I conclude Poor heretics may still be saved perchance, But only by invincible ignorance
So with
And
The
hymn:
is
I testify,
Shall pass
more
easily
Sacristans
make
"God
bless
"
which
Finis
322
AT PASSING
AT PASSING
When
the day begins to break
Call us back to life
and
take
light
Leaving sweetly
now we
And
Short or long
so,
good night
we do not know,
seems
;
Dark
leave
it
so,
!
At
rest
would
be.
And
to keep us free
from
pain,
thee
come again
Sense of
all
Thus with
lips against
thy
lips
And
323
arms
in
arms
and
Volume
BooK
of iHj^sterj) anti
Piston
FRONTISPIECE BY ISABEL DE STEIGER
PRESS OPINIONS
"The
'
The Star,
of the most original and most remarkable
for
"Undoubtedly one
the
many
years.
His language
chosen;
is
of
true
poetry
words
beautifully
his
cadences
in these
modern
ing,
times.
stimulating
strik-
on."
Birmingham Daily
Gazette.
"Mr.
Waite's volume
may
" Beautifully shadows forth in living words something of the life and meaning that is mystically symbolised to the seeing eye in every manifestation of nature. There is true The Bookman. gold of poetry in the book."
inner spiritual
. .
IN TREPARATION
Cfjc
Hib^m
Cjjurcf) of
ITS
Regarded as a Mystery of Initiation: its Connection WITH other Mysteries, and a New Theory OF ITS Development
By
Part
a.
E.
WAITE
The Nature and Purposes of the Graal I. Quest, from the first institution of the Hallows to their ultimate removal.
II.
Part
The
The
in
Folk-lore, showing that the elements brought over from this source lost their original character, and that a new tissue of symbolism was imported therein.
Part
III.
{a)
the Secret
Words of
Consecration
;
{b)
(t)
Peculiar
Apostolic
Succession
and
an
Ecclesiastical
Pre-eminence
following
there-
from.
Part
ditional
Celtic Church, including TraHereditary Keepers of Consecrated Objects, Vestiges of Concealed Words, Legends of Miraculous Altars, the History of Mass Chalices, and some particular forms of Sym-
IV,
The
bolism.
Part
V.
Mystic
Legend,
embodying the Outlines of a Great Experiment followed by the Sacred Schools, and the Graal Legends re-expressed in the terms of
this
Experiment.
Part VL
Summary of Possible Interventions, being an account of several Schemes which are now voided, and the Analogies of certain coexistent Schools of Symbolism.
Part VIL
its
The Secret Church ; the possibility of perpetuation through the centuries from Apostolic Times put forward as a working hypothesis, including traces of a Process which differed from the Mind of the Church, but in the Mind of the Church only.
is
The Work
an attempt to
new manner, the mystery enshrined in the old Romance Literature of the Holy Graal, and it has
been undertaken as hand considerations.
rather
a
than
sought
out,
and
originates
from
correspondences of which must almost of necessity escape students who have not passed through the Schools of Secret Thought. The investigation is therefore designed primarily for those who have in some manner been connected with the Hidden
Knowledge, and it will enable them to recognise which may otherwise be new to themThe full measure of the experiment is not selves. reached till the final part, wherein the Graal Mystery is considered in its connection with the existence and survival of a Hidden Church.
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