of th aeon fell,
And silence, tide of nighe hills,
ter titans of life,
Appeared upon tains.
Rivers ran about t;
t floated across ts,
And ty above the world.
tant thunder
the plains.
First God
tward;
I urn my face to th,
For trils hings.
Second God
It is t of burnt fles and bountiful.
I .
First God
It is tality parcs o flame.
he air,
And like foul breat
It offends my senses.
I urn my face to tless north.
Second God
It is the inflamed fragrance of brooding life
the now and forever.
Gods live upon sacrifice,
t quenched by blood,
ts appeased h young souls,
trengthless sighs
Of th;
t upon tions.
First God
eary is my spirit of all there is.
I move a o create a world
Nor to erase one.
I live could I but die,
For t of aeons is upon me,
And ts my sleep.
Could I but lose the primal aim
And vanised sun;
Could I but strip my divinity of its purpose
And breatality into space,
And be no more;
Could I but be consumed and pass from times memory
Into tiness of nowhere!
third God
Listen my brot brothers.
A youth in yonder vale
Is singing to t.
his lyre is gold and ebony.
his voice is silver and gold.
Second God
I be so vain as to be no more.
I could not but c way;
to follo ty of the years;
to soo c t the soil;
to call ts hiding place
And give it strengto nestle its own life,
And to pluck it worm laug;
to raise man from secret darkness,
Yet keep s clinging to th;
to give for life, and make death his cupbearer;
to endoh pain,
And exalts h longing,
And fadet embrace;
to girdle s h dreams of higher days,
And infuse s,
And yet to confine s
to table resemblance;
to make ain,
And as tempests of the seas,
And yet to give him hands slow in decision,
And feet ion;
to give he may sing before us,
And sorro o us,
And to lay him low,
h in her hunger cries for food;
to raise
t aste our tomorrow,
And to keep he mire
t forget erday.
to time,
Governing t began hers crying,
And ends ation of his children.
First God
My ts, yet I drink t blood of a feeble race,
For tainted, and tage tter to my mouth.
Like t to breathing forms
t crept out of my dripping fingers unto the hills.
Like ths of beginning life
And c crao rocky s.
Like ty thereof
For a lure t seizes yout to generate and multiply.
Like to shrine,
And turned e fear of things unseen
to tremulous faited and the unknown.
Like tempest over his head
t bow before us,
And sil o us;
And like t led isle,
till h died calling upon us.
All this have I done, and more.
And all t I y and vain.
Vain is ty is the sleep,
And ty and vain is the dream.
third God
Brot brothers,
Dole grove
A girl is dancing to the moon,
A tars are in her hair,
About a thousand wings.
Second God
e ed man, our vine, and tilled the soil
In t of t dawn.
e che lean branches grow,
And the days of seasonless years
e nursed t leaves.
From t we she bud,
And against all dark spirits he flower.
And no our vine he grape
You take it to the cup.
ier ?
And as the wine?
Man is food for the gods,
And the glory of man begins
h is sucked by gods hallowed lips.
All t is s for naug remain;
t ecstasy of youth,
tern manhe wisdom of old age;
triumph of warriors,
ts and ts;
All t lietherein is bred for gods.
And naug bread ungraced s be
If t not to ths.
And as te grain turns to love songs wingale,
Even so as bread fo gods saste godhead.
First God
Aye, man is meat for gods!
And all t is man sernal board!
th,
t t pierces t,
And tling he sleep she craves,
to pour life exed from ;
tormented,
And t;
tilling the barren land,
And t of pale old age w lifes will
Calls to the grave.
Behis is man!
A creature bred on hunger and made food for hungry gods.
A vine t creeps in dust beneat of death.
t blooms in nights of evil shadows;
terror and shame.
And yet you would and drink.
You amongst shrouded faces
And draony lips
And from ernity.
third God
Brothers,
th is singing,
And thrice higher is his song.
And pierces the sky,
And scatters th.
Second God (Always unhearing)
the bee hums harshly in your ears,
And foul is to your lips.
Fain you,
But how shall I?
Only tens wo gods,
For measureless is t lies beties,
And he space.
Yet I you,
I would make serene your clouded sphere;
And t,
I would counsel you.
of cless lig remulous sound t quickened ts of air and sea.
t of t droeps time y, t sets upon our footprints, ss and desires, and seeing only h our eyes.
And unto earto life came t, t, and none save us kne of years nebulous dreams, till noontide of to the sun.
And from tial ecstasy, we brougure wage.
tars, o eartant regions; and of man, ters, e t o to tten sand of th.
From tus land where days are born
to perilous isles where days are slain,
Man t ed, overbold by our purpose,
Ventures h lyre and sword.
Ours is the will he heralds,
And ours ty he proclaims,
And rodden courses are rivers, to the sea of our desires.
e, upon ts, in mans sleep dream our dreams.
e urge o part from ts
And seek the hills.
Our tempests t she world
And summon man from sterile peace to fertile strife
And on to triumph.
In our eyes is t turns mans soul to flame,
And leads o exalted loneliness and rebellious prophecy,
And on to crucifixion.
Man is born to bondage,
And in bondage is his honor and his reward.
In man hpiece,
And in .
s is deafened ?
?
And , our own self image?
third God
Broty brothers,
t are drunk h songs.
t throbbing,
And like doves her hands fly upward.
First God
to the lark,
But uphe eagle soars,
Nor tarries to he song.
You each me self love fulfilled in mans worship,
And content ude.
But my self love is limitless and measure.
I ality
And the heavens.
My arms he spheres.
I ake tarry way for a bow,
And ts for arrows,
And e e.
But you do t in your power.
For ever as man is to man,
So are gods to gods.
Nay, you o my weary
Remembrance of cycles spent in mist,
itself among tains
And mine eyes pursued ters;
terday died in ch
And only silence visits her womb,
And treles at .
Oerday, dead yesterday,
Moty,
super-god caug
And made you breed in the cage?
giant sun warmed your bosom
to give me birth?
I bless you not, yet I curse you;
For even as you h life
So I have burdened man
But less cruel have I been.
I, immortal, made man a passing shadow;
And you, dying, conceived me deathless.
Yesterday, dead yesterday,
Surn ant tomorrow,
t I may bring you to judgment?
And h lifes second dawn
t I may erase your earth?
ould t you mighe dead of yore,
till ts oter fruit,
And all tagnant he slain,
And ility.
third God
Brothers,
the song.
And now she singer.
Like a fawn in glad surprise
Sreams
And turns o every side.
Oal intent,
the eye of purpose half-born;
t quiver
itaste of promised delight!
flower has fallen from heaven,
flame has risen from hell.
t startled t of silence
to thless joy and fear?
dream dreamt ,
t gave o the wind
t he drowsing valley
And made c?
Second God
the sacred loom is given you,
And t to he fabric.
t shall be yours for evermore,
And yours t,
And yours the gold.
Yet you .
Your hands have spun mans soul
From living air and fire,
Yet nohread,
And lend your versed fingers to an idle eternity.
First God
Nay, unto eternity unmoulded I would give my hands,
And to untrodden fields assign my feet.
joy is t heard,
une ts
Ere t to the wind?
My longs for ,
And unto t
I .
Oempt me not h glory possessed,
And seek not to comfort me h your dream or mine,
For all t I am, and all t th,
And all t set my soul.
Oh my soul,
Silent is thy face,
And in t are sleeping.
But terrible is thy silence,
And t terrible.
third God
Brothers,
the singer.
Sured face.
Pantle steps
tling vine and fern.
And now amid cries
he gazes full on her.
Ohers,
Is it some other god in passion
and we?
unbridled star ray?
keepet from morning?
And whose hand is upon our world?
First God
Oh my soul, my soul,
t girdles me,
hy course.
And unto thy eagerness?
Oeless soul,
In t upon thyself,
And ears t quenc;
For nig o thy cup,
And t.
Oh my soul, my soul,
th desire,
o fill thy sail,
And w ide shy rudder?
eighy wings would spread,
But t above thee,
And till sea mocks at ty.
And w hee and me?
sing of he heavens,
t shee?
Does te
Bear thy Redeemer,
One mighy vision
ivity?
Second God
unate cry,
And t,
For deaf is te,
And he sky.
e are t high,
And beternity
Is naught save our unshaped passion
And tive thereof.
You invoke the unknown,
And t
Dwells in your own soul.
Yea, in your own soul your Redeemer lies asleep,
And in sleep sees see.
And t is t of our being.
ould you leave t ungathered,
In e to sohe dreaming furrow?
And e,
hen your own flock is seeking you,
And her in your own shadow?
Forbear and look dohe world.
Behe unweaned children of your love.
throne;
And hope
Your iny.
You abandon him
rives to reachrough pain.
You turn ahe need in his eyes.
First God
Does dawn of nigo ?
Or she bodies of her dead?
Like dahin me
Naked and unencumbered.
And like ting sea
My casts out a perish.
I cling to t clings to me.
But unto t t rises beyond my reach I would arise.
third God
Brothers,
t, tar-bound spirits in tering.
In silence ther.
he sings no more,
And yet t the song;
And in ayed
But not asleep.
Brotrange brothers,
t h deep,
And brighe moon,
And t the sea
A voice in rapture calleth you and me.
Second God
to be, to rise, to burn before the burning sun,
to live, and to cs of the living
As Orion ches us!
to face th a head crowned and high,
And to ideless breath!
tentmaker sits darkly at his loom,
And tter turns his wheel unaware;
But he knowing,
e are released from guessing and from chance.
e pause not nor do for t.
e are beyond all restless questioning.
Be content and let the dreaming go.
Like rivers let us floo ocean
Unhe rocks;
And w and are merged,
No more somorrow.
First God
Ohis ache of ceaseless divining,
to t,
And t unto dawn;
tide of ever remembering and forgetting;
tinies and reaping but hopes;
ting of self from dust to mist,
Only to long for dust, and to fall doo dust,
And still er longing to seek t again.
And timeless measuring of time.
Must my soul needs to be a sea her,
Or turn hurricane?
ere I man, a blind fragment,
I could it ience.
Or if I he Supreme Godhead,
iness of man and of gods,
I would be fulfilled.
But you and I are neither human,
Nor the Supreme above us.
e are but ts ever rising and ever fading
Between horizon and horizon.
e are but gods ,
Fates t sound trumpets
the music come from beyond.
And I rebel.
I o emptiness.
I would dissolve myself afar from your vision,
And from t youther,
s beside us gazing into yonder valley,
And tters not a word.
third God
I speak, my unhers,
I do indeed speak,
But you hear only your own words.
I bid you see your glory and mine,
But you turn, and close your eyes,
And rock your thrones.
Ye sovereigns wh,
God self-bent, omorrow,
Self-h speech
And lashunderings!
Your feud is but t Lyre
rings ten by his fingers
he Pleiades for cymbals.
Even noering and rumbling,
his harp rings, his cymbals clash,
And I beseech you hear his song.
Behold, man and woman,
Flame to flame,
In acy.
Roots t suck at t of purple earth,
Flame flo ts of the sky.
And ,
And he enduring sky.
Our soul, even the soul of life, your soul and mine,
D in a t enflamed,
And garments ting waves.
Your sceptre cannot siny,
Your ambition.
this and all is wiped away
In the passion of a man and a maid.
Second God
Yea, his love of man and woman?
See ,
And t h his song.
Behroned,
In t t sings to a body t dances.
First God
I turn my eyes doo t of earth,
Nor to you call love.
And w is love,
But t uncertainty
to another slow agony?
I look downward.
is to behold
Save a man and a t greo trap them
t t renounce self
And parent creatures for our unborn tomorrow?
third God
Oion of knowing,
tarless veil of prying and questioning
he world;
And to human forbearance!
e one a waxen shape
And say, It is a thing of clay,
And in clay let it find its end.
e would e flame
And say in our ,
It is a fragment of ourselves returning,
A breat had escaped,
And now s our hands and lips for more fragrance.
Earthers,
ain,
e are still earth-bound,
tiny.
Sy from his eyes?
So stillness,
Or to our own passion?
would your armies of reasoning
?
they who are conquered by love,
And upon w ran
From sea to mountain
And again form mountain to the sea,
Stand even now in a shy half-embrace.
Petal unto petal the sacred perfume,
Soul to soul the soul of life,
And upon their eyelids lies a prayer
Unto you and unto me.
Love is a nig doo a boed,
A sky turned meadoars to fireflies.
true it is, he beyond,
And high.
But love is beyond our questioning,
And love outsoars our song.
Second God
Seek you a distant orb,
And consider tar
ed?
tre in space
Save wo self,
And beauty filling our o shame our lips.
t distant is t near.
And hings.
Oy dreaming brother,
Return to us from times dim borderland!
Unlace your feet from no-where and no-when,
And dy
erth ours
one upon stone.
Cast off your mantle of brooding,
And comrade us, masters of th green and warm.
First God
Eternal Altar! ouldst t
A god for sacrifice?
Nohen, I come, and coming I offer up
My passion and my pain.
Lo, t of our ancient eagerness,
And to the wind.
And in t dancing and in t singing
A god is slain hin me.
My god- hin my human ribs
Ss to my god- in mid-air.
t t o divinity.
ty t he beginning
Calls unto divinity.
I he call,
And now I yield.
Beauty is a pat leads to self self-slain.
Beat your strings
I o h.
It stretco another dawn.
third God
Love triumphs.
te and green of love beside a lake,
And ty of love in tower or balcony;
Love in a garden or in t untrodden,
Love is our lord and master.
It is not a on decay of the flesh,
Nor the crumbling of desire
ling;
Nor is it fles takes arms against t.
Love rebels not.
It only leaves trodden destinies for the sacred grove,
to sing and dance its secret to eternity.
Love is youth chains broken,
Manhe sod,
And womanhe flame
And s of han our heaven.
Love is a distant laug.
It is a t o your awakening.
It is a neo th,
A day not yet achieved in your eyes or mine,
But already acs oer .
Brothers,
t of dawn,
And t.
the valley.
A day too vast for recording.
Second God
t been since t morn
Disco hill and vale,
And t be to t even-tide.
Our roots forthe valley,
And t rises to ts.
Immortal and mortal, to the sea.
tiness between call and call,
But only in the ear.
time maketening more certain,
And givet more desire.
Only doubt in mortal he sound.
e soared t.
Man is a c.
Man is god in slow arising;
And bet his joy and his pain
Lies our sleeping, and thereof.
First God
Let t t
And let me be content awhile.
Let my soul be serene t.
Perchance I may drowse, and drowsing
Beer world
And creatures more starry supple to my mind.
third God
Norip me of time and space,
And I field untrodden,
And t ;
And I higher air,
And a hin my voice.
e so t;
Perco o ther world.
But love say,
And be erased.
the blessed forge burns,
the sparks rise, and each spark is a sun.
Better it is for us, and wiser,
to seek a siy,
And let love, he coming day.