Songs of the Soul/Part 2
To soul of the New in thingsMy spirit homage sings.I would not taste the same nectar,Nor twice drink from th’ Immortals’ jar.
PART II
WAKE, WAKE MY SLEEPING HUNGER, WAKE!
When tables large of earth and moon and meteors,Of brooks and rills, of shining ether oreAre laid with wondrous One Nectar,Stolen from nature’s nooks by lars,—Do thou thy sullen sleep forsake;—Wake, wake my sleeping Hunger, wake!
Through diverse paths of aeons thou hast cried,For a morsel of manna begged and tried;But now thou sleepest, dazed and tired, on leerUndried lie drops of fresh-wept tearsWhile nectar touches thy lips,—partake,—Wake, wake my sleeping Hunger, wake!
This unquenched hunger old of mineDid eat all food and yet did pine,—Was starved with surfeit and it soughtHow might its yearn’d-for food be got.
The food for which thou wept’st awaits,—par- take !—Wake, wake my sleeping Hunger, wake!
Friends and wealth and fancy’s rarest treat,Posthumous wishes sprung from deathless roots so sweetDid fail to feed thy heart’s true craveAnd burned with thousand flaming wavesThe nectar sought for seeks thee now;-—par- take,—Wake, wake my sleeping Hunger, wake!
My hunger burned and wept to drinkThe mysteries by life’s bare brink,—Ambrosial fount that sleep beneathThe mystery caves on soil of truth:Weep more drops, nay streams—oceans—of tears,Thy duty is for peace to weep; thy only careTo seek thy work; and all thy foodBe what doth nourish thy mood;Thy work is done, thy nectar’s here,—Quench, quench the eternal ache!—Wake, wake my sleeping Hunger, wake!
ETERNITY
Oh, will that day arrive When I shall ceaselessly ask, and drive Eternal questionsInto Thine ear, O Eternity, and await solutionAs to how weak weeds do grow and stand unbent,Unshak’n beneath the trampling current;How the storm did wreck titanic things, rooted trees,And quick disturbed the mighty seas;How the first spark blinked, and the first tree,The first goldfish, the first blue bird so freeAnd the first crooning babyIn this wonder house made their visit and entry.They come, I see;Their growth alone I watch;Thy Cosmic Moulding HandThat secret works on land and seasI wish to seize,O Eternity!
VANISHING BUBBLES
Many unknown bubbles float and flow,Many ripples dance by meAnd melt away in sea.I like to know, ah, whence they come or whither go—
The rain drops and dies,My thoughts play wild and vanish quick,The red clouds melt in skies;I stake my purse or slave all life their motive still to seek.
Some friends, though not their love,Some dearest thoughts I ne’er would lose, I said,And last night’s surest stars, seen just above,-—All, all are fled.
The crowds of lilies, the linnet,Perfumed blossoms, honey-mad bees,Did meet on yonder bowered trees;Now the lonesome field alone is left.
The bubbles, lilies, friends, dramatic thoughts—They all their part did play and entertain,And now beneath the grassy screen, to change their displayed coats,They quiet, concealed remain.
VARIETY
I sought for twinsI could not find;I search my mind,No twins have seen.
They seem alike,Man and man, beast and brute,Yet no faces two are like;Ne’er the same song sang the lute.
Ne’er two hearts are same.I bow to each new form and name—Variely complete,Through forms infinite.
I wish that I were you and he,And all at once what I would be;Oh, could I wear at will all terrene minds,Like robes of newer kinds!
Then would I flash forth varied smiles, Or languorous walk in sorrow robed, Or charm with sparkling wiles And time beguile;
Or march with martial songs, To right all wordly wrongs; Or wear a powerful prophet mind And into dust earth’s sorrows grind;
Or wear the youthful hermit’s heart, To scatter love and strength impart.
I’d wear each heartAnd don each will and smiles and spend my pelfTo try all noble minds and thoughtsAnd take what suits myself.
With brain-born nixes,With marsh-marauding hopes and pixies,With every elfin thought that timid trod on mindI’d friendship find.
Thy presence, O Eternity,Show Thou in endless variety;Yet change not me,Though various my costumes be.
THE BLOOD OF ROSE
I tore the rose,I bled its slender stem,Its petals quiveredAnd I shivered;Yet I dared to rob its smell!My heart did break and tell,“Thy hands are soiled,” and mute I stood,Thus self-condemned and stained with rose’s blood.But I know now,I love the roseMore than its wealth, and vowNe’er its love to desecrate or lose.
AT THE ROOTS OF ETERNITY
With sailing clouds and plunging breeze,With swaying trees and youthful, stormy seas,With whirling planets I wildly playIn some absorbing wayBut not alway ;—At close of dayI layMy eager hands at the roots of EternityTo seize and own its nectar free.
UNDYING BEAUTY
They did their bestAnd they are blest,—The sap, the shoots,The little leaves and roots;The benign breath,The touch of light,—All worked in amityTo grow the rose’s beauty.Watch its splendor,Its undying grandeur,The Infinite FaceThat peeps through its little case;—Watch not in griefIts falling petals or its briefSojourn here;—For its careerDone, its duty ends;Toward the Immortals’ home it tends.The sap dried,The summer petals fled,
Its body pines;Yet its death ’s divine;Through death and spurnsIts deathless glory won:The rose is dead,—Its beauty lives instead.
THE NOBLE NEW
Sing songs that none have sung,Think thoughts that in brain have never rung,Walk in paths that none have trod,Weep tears as none have shed for Lord,Love all with love that none have felt, and braveThe battle of life with strength unchained,Give peace to all to whom none other gave,Claim him your own who is e’er disclaimed.
PROTECTING THORNS
The charm of the blushing roseHides its stinging thorns beneath;Yet without the wounds from thoseThou could’st not snatch its wealth with stealth,—The rose with thorns unstained with blood,The rose that sprang from earthly sod.
In her defense the thorns do sting,To keep thee out by thorny ring;Yet the perfumed petals’ showThy drowsing soul doth wake and draw:If thou dost love the beauty aloneWhy would’st thou rush to bleed from pricklythorns?
TATTERED GARMENT
Oh, sing no plaintive layWhen at last my earthly raiment dies,Nor let ashes tell thy tears where it lies;Oh, blow my tattered garment’s dust away!
The dust clean washed,The hidden gold beneath will showItself anew all bright and brushed,And shine somewhere aglow,—
And wait with luring lustreFor some home-lorn soulTo show the path with lightening glimmerFrom darkness on to goal.
IN STILLNESS DARK
Hark!In stillness dark,When noisy dreams have slept,The house is gone to rest,And busy lifeDoth cease from strife,—The soul in pity soft doth kissThe truant flesh to soothe, and speakWith mind-transcending graceIts soundless voice of peace.
Through transient fissures deepIn walls of sleepTake thou a gentle peep;Nor droop, nor stare,But watch with careThe sacred glare,Ablaze and clear, In golden gleeFlash past theeSo nigh.Ashamed, Apollo droops in dreadTo see that lustre spreadThrough boundless reach of sky.
NATURE’S NATURE
Away, ye muses, all away,Away with songs of finch and fay,Away the jaundiced sightThat conflagrates the firefly’s lightTo bonfire,—That sets ablaze at onceYour musing’s burning lamps;That ornaments with rhymesThe penury-stricken looks betimes;That over-clothes the Logic lordWith fancy-swollen words.Away, the partial loveThat ’boldens nature to sit aboveHer Maker!
This day I fasten eye-lid doors,With absence wax my ears,With langour all congeal my tongue, my touch, my tears,That I myself may pore
Upon the things behind, ahead Of the darkness ’round me spread. I lock Dame Nature out With all her fickle rout: Somewhere here In the darkness drear I myself with cheer My course will steerIn the pathE’er sought by all:Its magnet-callI hear.
Not here, not hereApollo would his burning chariot steer;Nor Dian dares to peepInto the sacred silence deep.
Not here, not hereThe mounts nor rebel waves, nor far or near,Can make me full of fear, nor evermoreTheir dreadful grandeur adore.[continued]
Not here, not hereThe soft capricious wiles of flowers,Nor swarming storm clouds’ sweeping terror,Nor doomsday’s thunder drearDismantling earth and stars,The cosmic beauties all to mar; Dishevelling of trees And light-haired skies, Nor nature’s murderous mutiny Nor man’s all-powerful destiny Can touch me here.
Not here, not here— Through mind’s strong iron bars No gods nor goblins, no men nor nature Without my pass dare enter. I look behind, ahead, And on naught but darkness tread. In wrath I strike, and set it ablaze With the immortal spark of thought, By the friction process brought
Of concentration And distraction;— The darkness burns With a million tongues, And now I spy All past, all distant things as nigh.
I smile sereneAs I expose to gazeIn wisdom’s brilliant blazeAll charms of the Hidden Home Unseen:The Home of Nature’s birth,The planets’ moulding hearth,The factory whence all forms or fairies start,The bards, colossal minds and hearts,The gods and all,And all, and all!
Away, AwayWith all the lightsome lays;—Oh, I’ll now portrayIn humble way,
And try to lisp half-truthsOf wordless charms of Thee UnseenTo whom Nature her nature owes, and sheen.
MY KINSMEN
In spacious hall of trance I spied—Aglow with million dazzling lights,Tapestried with the snowy cloud —My kinsmen all, lowly, proud;
The banquet great with music rolls,The drum of Om[1] in measure falls,The hosts, in many ways arrayed,Some plain, some gorgeous dress displayed.
Around the various tables largeOf earth and moon and sun and stars,The countless mute, and noisy guestsObserved Dame Nature’s feast with zest.
The tiny-eyed and shiny sands,Thirsty, drank of ocean’s life:I well remember once I brawledFor a sip of sea, with kinsmen sands. Yes, I know those old dame rocksWho rocked me on their stony lapsWhen I a tiny baby treeDid chafe to run with winds so free.
The green-attired friends I know,With rose and lily buds aglow;I once adorned a kingly breast,Lost life, returned to mother dust.
I know the ruby redbreast dear,My blood in it once flowed so clear;I smiled in diamonds, gleaming bright,I danced in Roentgen rays of light.
A ray of friendship from my heartIn diamond and ruby joy did start,The bright ones smiled, the ruby weptTo meet their long-lost friend at last.
The soul of gold in yellow gown,The soul of silver whitely shone,—Bestowed on me maternal smilesThat told they knew me long erewhile.
The lark, the cuckoo, the pheasant sweet,The deer, the lamb, the lion great,The shark and monsters of the sea!In love and peace all greeted me.
The leafy fingers, arms outspread,Caressed me when a tiny bird,And fed me with ambrosial fruitThat drew its life from immortal root.
When atoms and the star-dust sprang,When Vedas, Bible, Koran sang,—I joined each choir; their long-past thrilling songsStill echo in my soul in accents strong.
OM
Whence, Oh, this soundless roar doth comeWhen drowseth matter’s dreary drum?—The booming Om[2] on bliss’ shore breaks;All heaven, all earth, all body shakes.
Cords bound to flesh are broken all,Vibrations vile do fly and fall;The hustling heart, the boasting breathNo more disturb the yogi’s health.
The house is lulled in darkness soft,Dim, shiny light is seen aloft,Subconscious dreams have gone to bed.‘Tis then that one doth hear Om’s tread.
The bumble bee doth hum along,Baby Om, hark! sings his song;Krishna’s flute is sounding sweet,"Tis time the watery God to meet. God of fire is now singing,Om,—Om—his harp is ringing;God of prana[3] is now sounding,Wondrous bell of soul resounding.
Upward climb the living tree,[4]Hear the sound of ethereal sea;Marching mind doth homeward hieTo join the Christmas Symphony.
MYSTERY
Burst, inky cloud, do burst,Fling open thy fathomless gloom!In Thy dark chamber mustA million mysteries loom.
Heartless, staring sky!Make quick replyTo aching query of my straining eye,Show what thou hidest and why;—The ceaseless surging thoughtsGo mocking, dancing by,I deign to know their lot.Someone did throw me freeTo battle all alone in this rough sea.Rudderless I drift,Stranded on shoals my boat could n’t shift.
I'll burst the clouds, I'll clean the shoals,I'll rip the sky in twain, I’ll break my heart,With question crush my brain—I’ll ask and pray,Will beg or stealTo find the friends long stolen away,To know their woe or weal.
This wondrous day,Stage set for playBy Unseen Hand,—The players dropFrom no-man’s land,Then vanish away or stopWith changing scenes of birth and death. The drama’s on The actors play anon Yet know not why they play This glorious day!
SILENCE
The earth, the planets playIn and through the sun-born raysIn majesty profound. Umpire Time In silence sublime Doth watch This cosmic match.
The Author of the great gameAssumes no spoken name;—With boundless poiseHe doth His will without a noise, Ungrateful moods ignoring, Unkindness all forgiving.
Truth clearly speaks to all, But speaks not loud; They hear its call Who noises enthrall.
The voice in threatening silence speaksTo those who error’s path do seek. The tiger may be tamed, Failures’ talons can be maimed, All friends forsaking reason’s way be gained, Unruly nature trained By powerful silence o’ unspoken words, If in Truth maintained.
IT’S ALL UNKNOWN
Each rose-bud dawning day,In hourly opening petal-rays Doth fair display Its hidden beauty.
The petal-hours, unfolding smile,My drooping, lagging heart beguile.Day spreads its petals allOf novel hopes and joys withal. The rose-buds’ there,— “Today” is here;In time the rose-bud blooms,—While lazy day often glooms. Forsake thy sleep O, Lazy Day,Open Thou with thy full-bloom rayTo chase my gathered gloom away! The rose-bud opened, The day now smiled In fullness fine;
Still I opine ’Tis all unknownJust why the rose was blown,And the day was drowned in night Then raised again to light Of glorious dawn,So swiftly marching o’er the lawn!
AT THE FOUNTAIN OF SONG
Dig, dig, yet deeper digIn the stony earth for fount of songDig, dig, yet deeper digIn soil of muse’s heart along.
Some sparkle is seen,Some bubble is heard:’T is then unseen,—The bubble is dead.
The watery sheenAgain doth show;Dig, dig, still deeper e’enTill the bubble song again would grow.
I hear the song,I see its body bright,—Yet cannot touch—I longTo seize it now and drink its liquid light.
Bleed, O my Soul, do amply bleedTo dig yet deeper, —dig!
I touch the holy fount,— rejoice;I drink its bubble voiceMy throat’s ablaze,—I want to drink and drink always;The sphere’s aflameWith my thirst as I came:So dig, dig, yet deeper digThough it seems thou canst not dig!
I thought with heart aglowAll, all, I had drunk this day,And idly looked for more, deep, deep, below,—But lo! undrunk, untouched,There the fountain lay.
THE EVER NEW
Newer joys adorn the day,Brighter burn through livelong nightThe stars with purer light,Brighter thoughts do brace my voice,Newer words await my choice,With heart of th’ new I ’ll sing my lay.Wings of thoughts would ceaseless beatThe sky of time, and race to meetThy distant throneThat somewhere is alone.
Each and every dayMen choir some songNot with thoughts the same but a changing throngOf newer ones that make Thy greater lay.
The bubbling joyOf each little boy,Each brew of friendship stillI steal, and with them fill Mine cup of aged heartWith ceaseless thrills to start.Morrow each and each todayWith newer love I will sing my lay.The voices same do sing the layIn temple church and fane:But I deign ne’er to hearThe strains all stained with age-old tear;My fountain flows anew today,With newer tears will flow my lay.In the same old churchI'll newly sing and search,In the same old sermonFor unending truths and newer reason;In the same old organ will I seekThe newer hopes of new-born week.
Every day, oh, every dayThe bell will ring a new Sunday,And bathed in Thy beaming rayWith newer thoughts I'll sing my lay.
THE EVER-TRODDEN PATH
This ever-trodden pathWhere travelers all of earthDo walk in joyous hasteOr slothful sorrow’s stateI walk and wonder,—In truth or blunder.The path is cleftTo right and left,In front, behind;—The diverse ways I find,Bewildered am I—As baffling mazes do they lie; Still, they say There’s a royal wayFor all—the right, the error-wed,— ’Tis the sub-way path of ruby red Which far beneath lies hid For eager eyes to lead Straight on the feetTo where all paths do meet.
THE HUMAN MIND
I love to roam alone, unseen,In cities of the human mind,Untrodden by the crooked thoughts Vile-born,—unkind.
Incognito I wish to wander,To living lanes my thoughts surrenderWith simple wish to know and learnThe straight nice paths and danger turns.
I wish to roam in mazy lanesOf dark and brighter thoughts,With love to all and harm to none,With better message fraught.
I’d love to broaden narrow lanesOf selfish crooked thoughtsWith my love’s true-building brainThat I’ve within me got.
I long to soar so highThat I at once may spyThe narrow alleys, broader roadsOf human thoughtful moods.
THE CUP OF ETERNITY
The traveler of the endless trackAll weary, thirsty, sore doth seekTo quench the quenchless mortal thirst,The wordless worry of his heart.
He spies a cup —a little orb,He tries to drink with joyful sob,He stands aback, the cup sets down,—On the contents scant his heart did frown.
Yet up he lifts the cup again,But fears his baneful thirst to flame.When, hark! a voice of counsel deepForbids him this to soil with lip.
The cup so small to mortal eye,—The cup whose depth the wise can spyDries up, alas! if mortals drink;Perennial fount, the soulful think.
Now, in the little cup he’ll seeThe unsounded deep of eternity;For ageless hours and endless daysThe ambrosial drink he'll taste and praise.
The deathly thirst so fleshly bornNe’er shall parch his soul again;The cup he’ll drink, but not the bane,To quench his thirst, and bliss attain.And vain would mighty north winds tryCompassion’s gathered tears to dry.
A MIRROR NEW
I bring to youA mirror new—A glass of introspection clear,That illusions shows and sooty fearThat spots thy mind.Thou wilt findThis mirror new Would also show all true The “Inner You,”That’s veiled in fleshAnd doth ne’er appear.Each night consult afreshThy mirror friend and clear awayThe dust that gathers each day.
THE SPELL
Ah, this old, old nectar of nightBrewed below by Sun God bright!—Let every little fleshly cellThat’s tired and thirsty drink it well.By soothing spell of sleep ejectAll aches that heart and brain infect!The spell quick marching onFalls on me now so warm,And robs my mindOf linked thoughts, to bindMe prisoner in its charm.