Classic Poem

Thou who the Face Divine wouldst see,
Think, — couldst thou bear the sight, and be?
O waves of life and thought and dream,
Darkening in one mysterious Stream,
Flow on, flow loudly; nor become
A glassy Mirror sad and dumb,
Whereon for evermore might shine
The dread peace of the Face Divine! —
Children of earth whose spirits fail,
Beware the Lifting of the Veil!

I.

O RM'S Vision .

M Y Soul had a vision,
And in my Soul's vision
The Veil was lifted,
And the Face was there!

There was no portent
Of fire or thunder,
The wind was sleeping,
Above and under
All things lookt fair.
And the change came softly
Unaware:
On a golden morrow
The Veil was lifted,
And yea! the ineffable Face was there.

My Soul saw the vision
From a silent spot —
Nay, of its likeness
Ask me not —
How should my Soul fathom
The formless features?
Gaze at the Master
How should it dare?
Only I flutter'd
To my knees and mutter'd
A moan, a prayer —
Silent, ineffable,
Gazing downward,
The Face was there!

This let me whisper:
It stirred not, changed not,
Though the world stood still, amazed;
But the Eyes within it,
Like the eyes of a painted picture,
Met and followed
The eyes of each that gazed.

II.

T HE F ACE AND THE World .

Then my Soul heard a voice
Crying — " Wander forth
O'er hill and valley,
O'er the earth —
Behold the mortals
How they fare —
Now the great Father
Grants their prayer;
Now every spirit
Of mortal race,
Since the Veil is lifted,
Beholds the Face!

I awoke my body,
And up the mountains,
With the sweet sun shining
I wander'd free —
And the hills were pleasant,
Knee-deep in heather,
And the yellow eagle
Wheel'd over me —
And the streams were flowing,
And the lambs were leaping
Merrily!

But on the hill-tops
The shepherds gather'd,
Up-gazing dreamily
Into the silent air,
And close beside them
The eagle butcher'd
The crying lambkin,
But they did not see, nor care.
I saw the white flocks of the shepherds,
Like snow wind-lifted and driven,
Blow by, blow by!
And the terrible wolves behind them,
As wild as the winds, pursuing
With a rush and a tramp and a cry!

I passed the places
Of ice and snow,
And I saw a Hunter
Lying frozen, —
His eyes were sealid —
He did not know;
Drinking his heart's-blood,
Not looking upward,
Sat the soof-black raven
And the corby crow.

Then I knew they linger'd,
Though the Veil was lifted,
Death and Decay,
And my Spirit was heavy
As I turned away;
But my Spirit was brighter
As I saw below me
The glassy Ocean
Glimmering,
With a white sail dipping
Against the azure
Like a sea-bird's wing —
And all look'd pleasant,
On sea and land,
The white cloud brooding,
And the white sail dipping,
And the village sitting
On the yellow sand.

And beside the waters
My Soul saw the fishers
Staring upward,
With dumb desire,
Though a mile to seaward,
With the gulls' pursuing,
Shot past the herring
With a trail like fire;
Though the mighty Sea-snake
With her young was stranded
In the fatal shallows
Of the shingly bay —
Though their bellies hunger'd —
What cared they?

Hard by I noted
Little children,
Toddling and playing
In a field o' hay —
The Face was looking,
But they were gazing
At one another,
And what cared they?
But one I noted,
A little Maiden,
Look'd up o' sudden
And ceased her play,
And she dropt her garland
And stood upgazing,
With hair like sunlight,
And face like clay.

All was most quiet
In the air,
Save the children's voices
And the cry of dumb beasts, —
'Twas a weary Sabbath
Everywhere —
Each soul an eyeball,
Each face a stare; —
And I left the place,
And I wander'd free,
And the Eyes of the Face
Still followed me!

At the good Priest's cottage
The gray-hair'd grandsire
Lay stiff in the garden —
For his Soul had fled —
And I cried in passing,
" Oh ye within there,
Come forth in sorrow
And bury your dead."
With his flock around him
Praying bareheaded,
The pale Priest, kneeling
All gaunt and gray,
Answer'd, " Look upward!
Leave the dead to heaven!
God is yonder!
Behold, and pray!"

I was sick at heart
To hear and see,
And to feel the Face
Still following me,
And all seemed darkening,
And my heart sank down, —
As I saw afar off
A mighty Town —
When with no warning,
Slowly and softly
The beautiful Face withdrew,
And the whole world darken'd,
And the silence deepen'd,
And the Veil fell downward
With a silver glimmer of dew.
And I was calmer
As, slowly and sweetly,
Gather'd above me
Mysterious Light on Light, —
And weary with watching
I lay and slumber'd
In the mellow stillness
Of the blessid night.

. . When my Soul awaken'd
In the lonely place,
The Veil was lifted,
And, behold! the Face —
And sick, heart-weary,
Onward I ran,
Through fields of harvest
Where the wheat hung wither'd.
Unreapt by man;
And a ragged Idiot
Went gibbering gaily
Among the wheat,
In moist palms rubbing
The ears together;
And he laugh'd, and beckon'd
That I should eat.

At the city gateway
The Sentinels gather'd,
Fearful and drunken
With eyes like glass —
Look up they dared not,
Lest, to their terror,
Some luminous Angel
Of awe should pass;
And my Soul passed swiftly
With a prayer,
And entered the City: —
Still and awful
Were street and square.
'Twas a piteous Sabbath
Everywhere —
Each soul an eyeball,
Each face a stare.

In pale groups gather'd
The Citizens,
The rich and poor men,
The lords, the lepers
From their loathsome dens.
There was no traffic,
The heart of the City
Stood silently;
How could they barter.

How could they traffic,
With the terrible Eyes to see.
Nay! each man brooded
On the Face alone:
Each Soul was an eyeball,
Each Shape was a stone;
And I saw the faces,
And some were glad,
And some were pensive,
And some were mad;
But in all places,
Hall, street, and lane, —
'Twas a frozen pleasure,
A frozen pain.

I passed the bearers
Of a sable bier,
They had dropped their burthen
To gaze in fear;
From under the trappings
Of the death-cloth grand,
With a ring on the finger,
Glimmer'd the corpse's
Decaying hand.
I passed the bridal,
Clad bright and gay,
Frozen to marble
Upon its way.

Freely I wandered
Everywhere —
No mortal heeded
The passing footstep,
Palace and hovel
Were free as the mountain air.
Aye! softly I entered
The carven court of stone,
And the fountains were splashing,
And the pale King sitting.
Upon his jewell'd throne —
And before him gather'd
The Frail and Sickly,
The Poor and Old;
And he open'd great coffers,
And gave thence freely
Fine gear and gold, —
Saying, " 'Tis written,
Who giveth freely
Shall in sooth be blessid
Twenty-fold!"
But he look'd not upward,
And seem'd unconscious
Of the strange Eyes watching
O'er sea and land;
Yet his eyelids quiver'd,
And his eyes look'd sidelong,
And he hid in his bosom
A blood-stained hand;
But the beggar people
Let the gold and raiment
Lie all unheeded;
While with no speech.
Upward they lifted
Their wild pale features,
For the Face was mirror'd
In the eyes of each.

With the Face pursuing
I wandered onward,
Heart-sick, heart-sore,
And entered the fretted
Cathedral door;
And I found the people
Huddled together,
Hiding their faces
In shame and sin,
For through the painted
Cathedral windows
The Eyes of Wonder
Were looking in!
And on the Altar,
The wild Priest, startled,
Was gazing round him
With sickly stare,
And his limbs were palsied,
And he moaned for mercy,
More wonder-stricken
Than any there.

Then I fell at the Altar,
And wept, and murmur'd,
" My Soul, how fares it,
This day, with thee?
Art thou contented
To live and see,
Or were it better
Not to be?"
And my pale Soul whisper'd
" Like a band that holdest
And keepeth from growing
A goodly tree, —
A terror hath me —
I feel not, stir not —
'Twere surely better
Not to be!"
Then a rush of visions
Went wildly by!
My Soul beheld the marble World,
And the luminous Face on high.
And methought, affrighted,
That the mortal race
Built cover'd cities
To hide the Face;
And gather'd their treasures
Of silver and gold,
And sat amid them
In caverns cold;
And ever nightly,
When the Face of Wonder
Withdrew from man,
Many started,
And hideous revel
Of the dark began.
And men no longer
Knew the common sorrow,
The common yearning,
The common love,
But each man's features
Were turn'd to marble,
Changelessly watching
The Face above —
A nameless trouble
Was in the air —
The heart of the World
Had no pulsation —
'Twas a piteous Sabbath
Everywhere!

III.

O RM'S A WAKENING .

I awoke. And rising,
My Soul look'd forth —
'Twas the dewy darkness,
And the Veil was glittering
Over the earth;
But afar off eastward
The Dawn was glimmering,
All silver pale,
And slowly fading
With a mystic tremor,
The Lights gleam'd beautiful
In the wondrous Veil
Yea, Dawn came cheerily,
And the hill-tops brighten'd,
And the shepherds shouted,
And a trumped blew,
And the misty Ocean
Caught silver tremors,
With the brown-sail'd fish-boats
Glimmering through —
And the City murmur'd
As I ran unto it,
And my heart was merry,
And my fears were few;
And singing gaily
The lark rose upward,
Its brown wings gleaming
With the morning dew!