PART I
PRELUDE
We have wandered through the dim valleys of sleep --That lie so still and far-- Have bathed in the lakes of silence, Where each star Shines brighter than its own reflection in the heavens; Where, diving deep, My soul has sought to catch and keep The silver feathers of the moon That float like down upon the waters, In whose pale rest We find Forgetfulness of death That comes so soon --Waters that lull the mind With some sweet breath Of wind, of flowers, With summer showers of rain, Or quicken it with recreative pain.
We have fled further from this leaden cage, Seeking those rainbow forests, Where the light Thrills through you, shaking, fainting, with delight; Where sway tall luminous trees Wind-swept in one vast flashing harmony, That like a wave Splashes its seething sound And then envelops you.
We have strayed to other places, Courts of fear, That stretch like echoes through the endless dusk Drenched with dead memories; Like musk They cling about you In a heavy cloud. Each shadow-sound we hear Clutches the heart. With fevered hands we tear The terror-pulsing walls --Fight our way out --Out Into other Courts As vague and full of fear. And we have found the proud and distant palaces of night.
THE SILENCE OF GOD
One night upon the southern sea In helpless calm we lay, Waiting for day, Waiting for day.
As goldripe fruit fall from a tree A comet fell; no other sight, But in the ocean tracks of light Trembled--then passed away, Away.
No sound broke on our waiting ears, Though instinct whispered wayward fears Of things we cannot tell-- Of things the sea could tell.
No wisp of wind, no watery sound Reached us; as if high on the ground We stayed. A sense of fever fell Upon each mind, Each soul and mind.
Until our eyes, that ever sought The cloying empty darkness, find Another shape--or is it wrought Of terror?--on the deep The endless deep.
All dark it lay. No light shone out; And though we cried across, no shout Came back to us. As if in sleep The black bulk lay so still, So still.
No sign came back; no answering cry Cleft the immense monotony That swathed us like a funeral pall, In folds of menace; almost shrill The silence seemed, And we so small.
Swiftly a boat was lowered down; The rowlocks creaked; our track shone white Behind us like God's frown, God's frown.
We clambered up that great ship's height; There was no light; there was no sound; Nor was there any being found Upon that ship, That ship.
We groped our way along. God knows How long the rats had been alone With dust and rust! Yet flight was shown To have been instant, in the grip Of some force stronger than its foes --Its human foes.
* * * * *
Then sudden from the dark there thrilled The distant dying of a song That hung like haze upon the sea, and filled Each soul with joy and terror strong, With joy and terror strong.
Upon the sombre air were spent These notes, as from a hidden place Where all time and all love lay pent In lingering embrace-- In lingering embrace.
Deep in our hearts we felt the call; We knew that if our fate should send That song again, we must leave all And follow to the end, The end.
ADVENTURE
Down through the torrid seas we swept, Sails curved like bows about to shoot. As an arrow speeds through the air Our ship parted the clinging waters.
Then, out of the ocean Blossomed a distant land.
* * * * *
The air quivered, Dancing above it In a frenzy of passion. Waves of heat trembled towards us Across the cool lassitude of the ocean. They rolled new odours at us, Sounding the chords of hidden senses, Till we were alert With minds as sensitive and taut As resined strings. The sea itself Crouched down behind us, Urging us on, Driving us on, To unknown Perilous adventures.
* * * * *
Ships and sea were forgotten. We trampled And stumbled On, on, Through the burning sand To the hot shroud of the squat threatening forest, Where, as you walked, You tore apart A solid sheet of air.
Brown satyrs grimaced at us, Swinging with long hairy arms From crooked branch to crooked branch. The sun Was at its height. Rays pierced the hot shade; White lines of light Shot through the shadows To where a point of green Shuddered with dangerous movement, Throbbed and hummed with the whirr of insects. Birds more bright than any streamers from the sun Cleft the air Like hammers; Scintillating wings Tossed patches of colour Into the dark shimmering air. Shrill calls Whistled like knives Hurled through the empty heat.
Frantic chattering rose up. Through the honeycombed darkness Slim animals --Their hides splashed with false sunlight-- Quivered away Into the hollow distance. Or clattered past us, Cloven hooves Kicking at the hard, bent trunks Of gnarled trees. Large hairy fruits of wood Were cast at us, Snarlingly, From the darkness. Faces --Faces peered down From the interwoven boughs.
Hastily we stumbled on; Hurriedly we stumbled back, Bewildered. Small tracks Tripped through the blackness Hither and thither; Twigs crawled from under our feet, Hissing away In venom --And we were bewildered.
Then suddenly We felt, Rumbling in curling patterns through the ground, The beating of drums. As winds bellow into caves, As waves swirl and curl into hollows, We heard the blowing of wooden trumpets And of pipes.
Soon, Under the western canopy of the sun, Where the fevered hills lay huddled together, We saw great gourd-shaped palaces Loom up like mountains. Figures played on trumpets, Twisted like snakes, Or on the curved, carved horns of unknown beasts. In the sound was mirrored The panic seizures of the night, --The fear of things that walk in darkness. The drums were painted In hot colours That, even through the dusk, Glowed torture and writhing torment. Like a shower of molten lead The din fell down upon us From the Palaces.
Bare yellow women Hurried To greet us; Their heels swayed inward As they walked. They offered fruits --Fruits that were strange to us; Mellow they were, and with a scent Of sun, of summer, And of woodland nights. We ate --And dreams closed round.
* * * * *
DUSK
Night like a hawk Swooped down On to the phoenix bird, --Tore out its flaming feathers. Solitary plumes Flared down into the darkness, Floating above the distant sea. Stillness and heat clung together; And the hawk Spread out her wings.
Gigantic pinions Flutter the air above, Fanning our faces And We sing.....
SAILOR-SONG
On swinging seas our ship has flown --In sun and shadow lands alit. We saw the sack of Carthage Town (And Dido building it).
Cassandra, direful prophetess, We heard foretell the fate of Troy, And through its streets helped wheel and press That wooden, painted toy.
We've seen events aboard this hulk Of grave import and mystery --The serpent's writhing horrid bulk Go seething through the sea.
Then once we left Atlantis Town. Behind us like a lily flower It blossomed; but then down, far down, Sank every vane and tower.
Now you can hear the clanging beat Of bells beneath the furious foam. In coral palaces the great Sea monsters make their home.
Their corridors with pearl are pav'd; Float down them in an endless flight Fierce finny beasts. The walls are laved In irridescent light.
We brought gifts--myrrh and frankincense-- From Khubla to the Great Moghul; Espied the Juggernaut immense Pound over flesh and skull;
Saw desert-men atone for ills With frenzied hands, with wounds that gape, --The hermits hidden in the hills --The Herod in his Tyrian Cape.
From out our ship, held fast by gale, We watched Andromeda's release; Beheld the galleon in full sail That flew the Golden Fleece.
Icarus, proud of his new power, We saw stretch out his wings to fly. We heard in that tremendous hour The cry from Calvary.
Thus many things we understand That puzzle landsmen: we can tell Of perils in each time and land; But outside Heaven or Hell
No fruit so strange we tasted save But one; none cast so strange a spell Except the fruit the first Eve gave To the first man who fell.
THE DANCE
The song ends. The rocking earth Plunges madly --Lunges like a man About to fight. Trees roll beckoning branches at us, Branches that swing and sway. From the forest The animals Howl Like laughter. With their burning scimiters Flames slice the night.
Monotony, A life preserved in ocean salt, Scales off our limbs. Within our veins The liquor of this fruit-of-fire Mounts in splendour inexhaustible. The world itself Dances To make us dance In cosmic frenzy.
WHY SHOULD A SAILOR RIDE THE SEA?
Why should a sailor ride the sea, When he can drink and dance and sing, Or watch the stars out-blossoming Upon the tree of night?
Why should he face the tear-salt waves, When he can sing, or feast on fruit, Dance to the silver-sobbing lute, And all men seem his slaves?
No more to ship or sea we'll go, To watch the land sink out of sight Suffused by purple fumes of night, Each heart weighed down with woe.
But under rustling fretted lace Of leaves, we'll dance and stamp our feet In frenzy, to the furious beat, --The rhythm of all space.
Or watch each dappled fawn and elf Spring from the green lairs where they hide; Now every soul is multiplied And communes with itself.
The softly sailing moon is now A pendulum, hung in a vast Blue bubble--so to mark our fast Lithe movements to and fro.
Down from the sky the willing stars Fall round each brow a crown to form; Till feet and limbs, a rushing storm, Dance whirling on in ecstasy.
The earth dances; The earth dances; Trees charge at us Like horsemen; Forests swoop Down the hill, Charging at us, But we are brave, Full of a fiery courage, And go onward Onward, Through the galloping trees. We shout Glowing phrases --Snatches of ineffable wit.
The frenzy in our feet Must surely set the world afire. Yet still the stars Rain down their golden tremors of delight, And the moon Sweeps like a bird Through the arch of space.
We, too, Float downward Gently To soft shipwreck. We, too, Are of the kindred of the Pleiades; Reel on our golden path Down, Down, Through the curved emptiness of the heavens.