Gebir Part 2

Thou knowest not that here thy fathers lie, The race of Sidad; theirs was loud acclaim When living, but their pleasure was in war; Triumphs and hatred followed: I myself Bore, men imagined, no inglorious part: The G.o.ds thought otherwise, by whose decree Deprived of life, and more, of death deprived, I still hear shrieking through the moonless night Their discontented and deserted shades.

Observe these horrid walls, this rueful waste!

Here some refresh the vigour of the mind With contemplation and cold penitence: Nor wonder while thou hearest that the soul Thus purified hereafter may ascend Surmounting all obstruction, nor ascribe The sentence to indulgence; each extreme Has tortures for ambition; to dissolve In everlasting languor, to resist Its impulse, but in vain: to be enclosed Within a limit, and that limit fire; Severed from happiness, from eminence, And flying, but h.e.l.l bars us, from ourselves.

Yet rather all these torments most endure Than solitary pain and sad remorse And towering thoughts on their own breast o'er-turned And piercing to the heart: such penitence, Such contemplation theirs! thy ancestors Bear up against them, nor will they submit To conquering Time the asperities of Fate; Yet could they but revisit earth once more, How gladly would they poverty embrace, How labour, even for their deadliest foe!

It little now avails them to have raised Beyond the Syrian regions, and beyond Phoenicia, trophies, tributes, colonies: Follow thou me--mark what it all avails."

Him Gebir followed, and a roar confused Rose from a river rolling in its bed, Not rapid, that would rouse the wretched souls, Nor calmly, that might lull then to repose; But with dull weary lapses it upheaved Billows of bale, heard low, yet heard afar.

For when h.e.l.l's iron portals let out night, Often men start and shiver at the sound, And lie so silent on the restless couch They hear their own hearts beat. Now Gebir breathed Another air, another sky beheld.

Twilight broods here, lulled by no nightingale Nor wakened by the shrill lark dewy-winged, But glowing with one sullen sunless heat.

Beneath his foot nor sprouted flower nor herb Nor chirped a gra.s.shopper. Above his head Phlegethon formed a fiery firmament: Part were sulphurous clouds involving, part Shining like solid ribs of molten bra.s.s; For the fierce element which else aspires Higher and higher and lessens to the sky, Below, earth's adamantine arch rebuffed.

Gebir, though now such languor held his limbs, Scarce aught admired he, yet he this admired; And thus addressed him then the conscious guide.

"Beyond that river lie the happy fields; From them fly gentle breezes, which when drawn Against yon crescent convex, but unite Stronger with what they could not overcome.

Thus they that scatter freshness through the groves And meadows of the fortunate, and fill With liquid light the marble bowl of earth, And give her blooming health and spritely force, Their fire no more diluted, nor its darts Blunted by pa.s.sing through thick myrtle bowers, Neither from odours rising half dissolved, Point forward Phlegethon's eternal flame; And this horizon is the s.p.a.cious bow Whence each ray reaches to the world above."

The hero pausing, Gebir then besought What region held his ancestors, what clouds, What waters, or what G.o.ds, from his embrace.

Aroar then sudden, as though roused, renewed.

"Come thou, if ardour urges thee and force Suffices--mark me, Gebir, I unfold No fable to allure thee--on! behold Thy ancestors!" and lo! with horrid gasp The panting flame above his head recoiled, And thunder through his heart and life blood throbbed.

Such sound could human organs once conceive, Cold, speechless, palsied, not the soothing voice Of friendship or almost of Deity Could raise the wretched mortal from the dust; Beyond man's home condition they! with eyes Intent, and voice desponding, and unheard By Aroar, though he tarried at his side.

"They know me not," cried Gebir, "O my sires, Ye know me not! they answer not, nor hear.

How distant are they still! what sad extent Of desolation must we overcome!

Aroar, what wretch that nearest us? what wretch Is that with eyebrows white, and slanting brow?

Listen! him yonder who bound down supine, Shrinks yelling from that sword there engine-hung; He too among my ancestors?"

"O King!

Iberia bore him, but the breed accursed Inclement winds blew blighting from north-east."

"He was a warrior then, nor feared the G.o.ds?"

"Gebir, he feared the Demons, not the G.o.ds; Though them indeed his daily face adored, And was no warrior, yet the thousand lives Squandered as stones to exercise a sling!

And the tame cruelty and cold caprice - Oh, madness of mankind! addressed, adored!

O Gebir! what are men, or where are G.o.ds!

Behold the giant next him, how his feet Plunge floundering mid the marshes yellow-flowered, His restless head just reaching to the rocks, His bosom tossing with black weeds besmeared, How writhes he twixt the continent and isle!

What tyrant with more insolence e'er claimed Dominion? when from the heart of Usury Rose more intense the pale-flamed thirst for gold?

And called forsooth DELIVERER! False or fools Who praised the dull-eared miscreant, or who hoped To soothe your folly and disgrace with praise!

Hearest thou not the harp's gay simpering air And merriment afar? then come, advance; And now behold him! mark the wretch accursed Who sold his people to a rival king-- Self-yoked they stood two ages unredeemed."

"Oh, horror! what pale visage rises there?

Speak, Aroar! me perhaps mine eyes deceive, Inured not, yet methinks they there descry Such crimson haze as sometimes drowns the moon.

What is yon awful sight? why thus appears That s.p.a.ce between the purple and the crown?"

"I will relate their stories when we reach Our confines," said the guide; "for thou, O king, Differing in both from all thy countrymen, Seest not their stories and hast seen their fates.

But while we tarry, lo again the flame Riseth, and murmuring hoa.r.s.e, points straighter, haste!

'Tis urgent, we must hence."

"Then, oh, adieu!"

Cried Gebir, and groaned loud, at last a tear Burst from his eyes turned back, and he exclaimed, "Am I deluded? O ye powers of h.e.l.l, Suffer me--Oh, my fathers!--am I torn--"

He spake, and would have spoken more, but flames Enwrapped him round and round intense; he turned, And stood held breathless in a ghost's embrace.

"Gebir, my son, desert me not! I heard Thy calling voice, nor fate withheld me more: One moment yet remains; enough to know Soon will my torments, soon will thine, expire.

Oh, that I e'er exacted such a vow!

When dipping in the victim's blood thy hand, First thou withdrew'st it, looking in my face Wondering; but when the priest my will explained, Then swearest thou, repeating what he said, How against Egypt thou wouldst raise that hand And bruise the seed first risen from our line.

Therefore in death what pangs have I endured!

Racked on the fiery centre of the sun, Twelve years I saw the ruined world roll round.

Shudder not--I have borne it--I deserved My wretched fate--be better thine--farewell."

"Oh, stay, my father! stay one moment more.

Let me return thee that embrace--'tis past-- Aroar! how could I quit it unreturned!

And now the gulf divides us, and the waves Of sulphur bellow through the blue abyss.

And is he gone for ever! and I come In vain?" Then sternly said the guide, "In vain!

Sayst thou? what wouldst thou more? alas, O prince, None come for pastime here! but is it nought To turn thy feet from evil? is it nought Of pleasure to that shade if they are turned?

For this thou camest hither: he who dares To penetrate this darkness, nor regards The dangers of the way, shall reascend In glory, nor the gates of h.e.l.l r.e.t.a.r.d His steps, nor demon's nor man's art prevail.

Once in each hundred years, and only once, Whether by some rotation of the world, Or whether willed so by some power above, This flaming arch starts back, each realm descries Its opposite, and Bliss from her repose Freshens and feels her own security."

"Security!" cried out the Gadite king, "And feel they not compa.s.sion?"

"Child of Earth,"

Calmly said Aroar at his guest's surprise, "Some so disfigured by habitual crimes, Others are so exalted, so refined, So permeated by heaven, no trace remains Graven on earth: here Justice is supreme; Compa.s.sion can be but where pa.s.sions are.

Here are discovered those who tortured Law To silence or to speech, as pleased themselves: Here also those who boasted of their zeal And loved their country for the spoils it gave.

Hundreds, whose glitt'ring merchandise the lyre Dazzled vain wretches drunk with flattery, And wafted them in softest airs to Heav'n, Doomed to be still deceived, here still attune The wonted strings and fondly woo applause: Their wish half granted, they retain their own, But madden at the mockery of the shades.

Upon the river's other side there grow Deep olive groves; there other ghosts abide, Blest indeed they, but not supremely blest.

We cannot see beyond, we cannot see Aught but our opposite, and here are fates How opposite to ours! here some observed Religious rites, some hospitality: Strangers, who from the good old men retired, Closed the gate gently, lest from generous use Shutting and opening of its own accord, It shake unsettled slumbers off their couch: Some stopped revenge athirst for slaughter, some Sowed the slow olive for a race unborn.

These had no wishes, therefore none are crowned; But theirs are tufted banks, theirs umbrage, theirs Enough of sunshine to enjoy the shade, And breeze enough to lull them to repose."

Then Gebir cried: "Ill.u.s.trious host, proceed.

Bring me among the wonders of a realm Admired by all, but like a tale admired.

We take our children from their cradled sleep, And on their fancy from our own impress Etherial forms and adulating fates: But ere departing for such scenes ourselves We seize their hands, we hang upon their neck, Our beds cling heavy round us with our tears, Agony strives with agony--just G.o.ds!

Wherefore should wretched mortals thus believe, Or wherefore should they hesitate to die?"

Thus while he questioned, all his strength dissolved Within him, thunder shook his troubled brain, He started, and the cavern's mouth surveyed Near, and beyond his people; he arose, And bent toward them his bewildered way.

FOURTH BOOK.

The king's lone road, his visit, his return, Were not unknown to Dalica, nor long The wondrous tale from royal ears delayed.

When the young queen had heard who taught the rites Her mind was shaken, and what first she asked Was, whether the sea-maids were very fair, And was it true that even G.o.ds were moved By female charms beneath the waves profound, And joined to them in marriage, and had sons-- Who knows but Gebir sprang then from the G.o.ds!

He that could pity, he that could obey, Flattered both female youth and princely pride, The same ascending from amid the shades Showed Power in frightful att.i.tude: the queen Marks the surpa.s.sing prodigy, and strives To shake off terror in her crowded court, And wonders why she trembles, nor suspects How Fear and Love a.s.sume each other's form, By birth and secret compact how allied.

Vainly (to conscious virgins I appeal), Vainly with crouching tigers, prowling wolves, Rocks, precipices, waves, storms, thunderbolts, All his immense inheritance, would Fear The simplest heart, should Love refuse, a.s.sail: Consent--the maiden's pillowed ear imbibes Constancy, honour, truth, fidelity, Beauty and ardent lips and longing arms; Then fades in glimmering distance half the scene, Then her heart quails and flutters and would fly-- 'Tis her beloved! not to her! ye Powers!

What doubting maid exacts the vow? behold Above the myrtles his protesting hand!

Such ebbs of doubt and swells of jealousy Toss the fond bosom in its hour of sleep And float around the eyelids and sink through.

Lo! mirror of delight in cloudless days, Lo! thy reflection: 'twas when I exclaimed, With kisses hurried as if each foresaw Their end, and reckoned on our broken bonds, And could at such a price such loss endure: "Oh, what to faithful lovers met at morn, What half so pleasant as imparted fears!"

Looking rec.u.mbent how love's column rose Marmoreal, trophied round with golden hair, How in the valley of one lip unseen He slumbered, one his unstrung low impressed.

Sweet wilderness of soul-entangling charms!

Led back by memory, and each blissful maze Retracing, me with magic power detain Those dimpled cheeks, those temples violet-tinged, Those lips of nectar and those eyes of heaven!

Charoba, though indeed she never drank The liquid pearl, or twined the nodding crown, Or when she wanted cool and calm repose Dreamed of the crawling asp and grated tomb, Was wretched up to royalty: the jibe Struck her, most piercing where love pierced before, From those whose freedom centres in their tongue, Handmaidens, pages, courtiers, priests, buffoons.

Congratulations here, there prophecies, Here children, not repining at neglect While tumult sweeps them ample room for play, Everywhere questions answered ere begun, Everywhere crowds, for everywhere alarm.

Thus winter gone, nor spring (though near) arrived, Urged slanting onward by the bickering breeze That issues from beneath Aurora's car, Shudder the sombrous waves; at every beam More vivid, more by every breath impelled, Higher and higher up the fretted rocks Their turbulent refulgence they display.

Madness, which like the spiral element The more it seizes on the fiercer burns, Hurried them blindly forward, and involved In flame the senses and in gloom the soul.

Determined to protect the country's G.o.ds And asking their protection, they adjure Each other to stand forward, and insist With zeal, and trample under foot the slow; And disregardful of the Sympathies Divine, those Sympathies whose delicate hand Touching the very eyeball of the heart, Awakens it, not wounds it nor inflames, Blind wretches! they with desperate embrace Hang on the pillar till the temple fall.

Oft the grave judge alarms religious wealth And rouses anger under gentle words.

Woe to the wiser few who dare to cry "People! these men are not your enemies, Inquire their errand, and resist when wronged."

Together childhood, priesthood, womanhood, The scribes and elders of the land, exclaim, "Seek they not hidden treasure in the tombs?

Raising the ruins, levelling the dust, Who can declare whose ashes they disturb!

Build they not fairer cities than our own, Extravagant enormous apertures For light, and portals larger, open courts Where all ascending all are unconfined, And wider streets in purer air than ours?

Temples quite plain with equal architraves They build, nor bearing G.o.ds like ours embossed.

Oh, profanation! Oh, our ancestors!"

Though all the vulgar hate a foreign face, It more offends weak eyes and homely age, Dalica most, who thus her aim pursued.

"My promise, O Charoba, I perform.

Proclaim to G.o.ds and men a festival Throughout the land, and bid the strangers eat; Their anger thus we haply may disarm."

"O Dalica," the grateful queen replied, "Nurse of my childhood, soother of my cares, Preventer of my wishes, of my thoughts, Oh, pardon youth, oh, pardon royalty!

If hastily to Dalica I sued, Fear might impel me, never could distrust.

Go then, for wisdom guides thee, take my name, Issue what most imports and best beseems, And sovereignty shall sanction the decree."

And now Charoba was alone, her heart Grew lighter; she sat down, and she arose, She felt voluptuous tenderness, but felt That tenderness for Dalica; she praised Her kind attention, warm solicitude, Her wisdom--for what wisdom pleased like hers!

She was delighted; should she not behold Gebir? she blushed; but she had words to speak, She formed them and re-formed them, with regret That there was somewhat lost with every change; She could replace them--what would that avail?-- Moved from their order they have lost their charm.