Tantalus
The truth is so; Apollo was my friend,
And I held high acquaintance with the gods,
And sat with them at table in the days
When youth and cheerful spring-time ruled my life.
I saw the mighty Thunderer on his throne,
And fickle Juno laughing at his side;
I saw the lightning of his sudden smile
Fill the far spaces of the Heavens with light,
And from the vantage of my topmost outlook,
I saw its radiance trembling to its fall,
Saw its swift flash across the universe,
And knew that in the realms of all the worlds
New apprehensions changed the face of time.
But chief Apollo was my friend, as dear
To me as mother to her clinging child;
For from the fountains of his gracious power
I drank large draughts of inspiration, felt
That in the embrace of his transcendent love
My being blossomed to its utmosTheight.
I saw him pass Aurora's golden gates,
And flood with sunshine the yet slumbering world;
I saw his car speed through the spiritual realms,
And rise a sun upon the souls of men,
Or beings likest men in all the worlds.
But why recall those vanished joys of youth?
Here in the depths of Hell I sit and mourn;
Yet I will tell you how it came I fell.
One day the Thunderer, gazing straight at me,
In tones of soft compassion said, “Ah, child,
Too soon thou venturest on celestial plains,
Too little canst thou mould thy budding life
In harmony with the universal laws.”
He spoke, and on Apollo's cheek there fell
A tear, and Heaven grew dark with misery.
Men tell a vain and foolish tale of me,
That I revealed the secrets of the gods;
For not with revelations are the gods
At strife, all noble work is revelation,
Inspired of them; but they cannot endure
The impotent efforts of half-witted men,
Of souls who labor in a partial way,
And mar their work with thoughtless zeal, or toil
To give expression to a lofty dream
In ignorance of the tools they needs must use.
Two worlds a man must make his home in; foremost
The world of thought, and then by consequence
The world of sense, where principles grow fact,
And the idea finds expression fit.
Therefore I fell; I drank the nectar, fed
The ambrosia, heard the words of all the gods,
But from the bliss of my abstract ideal
Could not descend, and hear the talk of men,
Nor understand the laws of shop and mart,
Nor join the pleasures of the laboring earth.
Therefore I fell, and hence my punishment:
Within the sea of lofty thoughts I sit,
But of them I can gain nor food nor drink,
And over me there hangs the shuddering doom.
And am I hopeless or despairing? Nay,
I know the unfathomable love of Heaven,
I know the gods are past our finding out,
I know that in their providential care
No woe shall stand unbalanced of its joy.
Already through the gloom of yonder sky,
This moonless night that girds me thick about,
I catch faint gleams of glad returning light;
Already yonder eastern sky empurpling
Quivers as if soft-touched by dawn, and soon
I know Apollo's golden fire will burn
On yonder cloud-rack, and upon my soul
Will rise the morning of eternal day.
And I held high acquaintance with the gods,
And sat with them at table in the days
When youth and cheerful spring-time ruled my life.
I saw the mighty Thunderer on his throne,
And fickle Juno laughing at his side;
I saw the lightning of his sudden smile
Fill the far spaces of the Heavens with light,
And from the vantage of my topmost outlook,
I saw its radiance trembling to its fall,
Saw its swift flash across the universe,
And knew that in the realms of all the worlds
New apprehensions changed the face of time.
But chief Apollo was my friend, as dear
To me as mother to her clinging child;
For from the fountains of his gracious power
I drank large draughts of inspiration, felt
That in the embrace of his transcendent love
My being blossomed to its utmosTheight.
I saw him pass Aurora's golden gates,
And flood with sunshine the yet slumbering world;
I saw his car speed through the spiritual realms,
And rise a sun upon the souls of men,
Or beings likest men in all the worlds.
But why recall those vanished joys of youth?
Here in the depths of Hell I sit and mourn;
Yet I will tell you how it came I fell.
One day the Thunderer, gazing straight at me,
In tones of soft compassion said, “Ah, child,
Too soon thou venturest on celestial plains,
Too little canst thou mould thy budding life
In harmony with the universal laws.”
He spoke, and on Apollo's cheek there fell
A tear, and Heaven grew dark with misery.
Men tell a vain and foolish tale of me,
That I revealed the secrets of the gods;
For not with revelations are the gods
At strife, all noble work is revelation,
Inspired of them; but they cannot endure
The impotent efforts of half-witted men,
Of souls who labor in a partial way,
And mar their work with thoughtless zeal, or toil
To give expression to a lofty dream
In ignorance of the tools they needs must use.
Two worlds a man must make his home in; foremost
The world of thought, and then by consequence
The world of sense, where principles grow fact,
And the idea finds expression fit.
Therefore I fell; I drank the nectar, fed
The ambrosia, heard the words of all the gods,
But from the bliss of my abstract ideal
Could not descend, and hear the talk of men,
Nor understand the laws of shop and mart,
Nor join the pleasures of the laboring earth.
Therefore I fell, and hence my punishment:
Within the sea of lofty thoughts I sit,
But of them I can gain nor food nor drink,
And over me there hangs the shuddering doom.
And am I hopeless or despairing? Nay,
I know the unfathomable love of Heaven,
I know the gods are past our finding out,
I know that in their providential care
No woe shall stand unbalanced of its joy.
Already through the gloom of yonder sky,
This moonless night that girds me thick about,
I catch faint gleams of glad returning light;
Already yonder eastern sky empurpling
Quivers as if soft-touched by dawn, and soon
I know Apollo's golden fire will burn
On yonder cloud-rack, and upon my soul
Will rise the morning of eternal day.
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