Prince Amadis: 71ÔÇô80
LXXI.
Art thou weary of wills, of hearts sinful and rude,
Of earth's dark and bright mixtures, and curses that brood
O'er a whole stricken race, and the service they need,
Where the eyes ever weep, and the hearts ever bleed?
LXXII.
Art thou sick of distractions from self, and would fain
Let thy soul walk at large in a world without pain,
Where law, not caprice, shall direct every force,
And the absence of sin make you free of remorse?
LXXIII.
Lo! I am the Kosmos! such beauty is mine,
Where all things in truth and in harmony shine,
Where no word of command, since the first one, is spoken,
Where no work is unmeaning, no decree ever broken.
LXXIV.
Where the swerving of systems is the rising and falling
Of unmeasured epochs to each other calling,
Where change and variety blend without flaw,
And calm and catastrophe are but one law.
LXXV.
But if this grand life is to go into thee,
Impassible, passionless, cold must thou be;
A single stray tenderness quick would dispel
The new life thou hast on, and which fits thee so well.
LXXVI.
I cannot put from thee thy flesh-and-blood heart,
I have set it alone in a corner apart;
Only see that earth's pity wake it not up again, —
If thou sheddest one tear, my gift is all vain.
LXXVII.
Magnificence cannot be meek in a creature:
'Tis a stretch that would wear out and break up his nature;
To be high, — high above all our kind we must dwell;
He who longs to be grand must be cruel as well.
LXXVIII.
He spoke, and there came on the earth such a hush!
He threw off from himself a scarce visible flush
Of the rosiest light, that passed into the heart
Of the wondering Prince, with an exquisite smart.
LXXIX.
For a moment a mist-shadow seemed just to hover —
The low stars looked through it — the moonlit stream over,
Then Kosmos unsouled, earth's king dispossessed,
Laid down in the bed of the Danube to rest.
LXXX.
The stars ceased to twinkle, the moon shed no beam,
There came a strange murmur all over the stream;
Earth felt just the slightest vibration, — then tore
Right away through cold space unconcerned as before.
Art thou weary of wills, of hearts sinful and rude,
Of earth's dark and bright mixtures, and curses that brood
O'er a whole stricken race, and the service they need,
Where the eyes ever weep, and the hearts ever bleed?
LXXII.
Art thou sick of distractions from self, and would fain
Let thy soul walk at large in a world without pain,
Where law, not caprice, shall direct every force,
And the absence of sin make you free of remorse?
LXXIII.
Lo! I am the Kosmos! such beauty is mine,
Where all things in truth and in harmony shine,
Where no word of command, since the first one, is spoken,
Where no work is unmeaning, no decree ever broken.
LXXIV.
Where the swerving of systems is the rising and falling
Of unmeasured epochs to each other calling,
Where change and variety blend without flaw,
And calm and catastrophe are but one law.
LXXV.
But if this grand life is to go into thee,
Impassible, passionless, cold must thou be;
A single stray tenderness quick would dispel
The new life thou hast on, and which fits thee so well.
LXXVI.
I cannot put from thee thy flesh-and-blood heart,
I have set it alone in a corner apart;
Only see that earth's pity wake it not up again, —
If thou sheddest one tear, my gift is all vain.
LXXVII.
Magnificence cannot be meek in a creature:
'Tis a stretch that would wear out and break up his nature;
To be high, — high above all our kind we must dwell;
He who longs to be grand must be cruel as well.
LXXVIII.
He spoke, and there came on the earth such a hush!
He threw off from himself a scarce visible flush
Of the rosiest light, that passed into the heart
Of the wondering Prince, with an exquisite smart.
LXXIX.
For a moment a mist-shadow seemed just to hover —
The low stars looked through it — the moonlit stream over,
Then Kosmos unsouled, earth's king dispossessed,
Laid down in the bed of the Danube to rest.
LXXX.
The stars ceased to twinkle, the moon shed no beam,
There came a strange murmur all over the stream;
Earth felt just the slightest vibration, — then tore
Right away through cold space unconcerned as before.
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