Themes and Variations/The Soul and Nature
THE SOUL AND NATURE
‘Whose is this image and superscription?’
I.
When I consider the heavens, the glorious spheres
Knit by the ever-circling threads of light,
Like beads upon the morning gossamers,
That float and glisten in the web of night—
From those far lands a whisper seems to rise,
Like whispers In a forest land of sighs—
O son ofman! In nature’s boundless sway.
Knit by the ever-circling threads of light,
Like beads upon the morning gossamers,
That float and glisten in the web of night—
From those far lands a whisper seems to rise,
Like whispers In a forest land of sighs—
O son ofman! In nature’s boundless sway.
What is thy feeble, passing spark of day?—
A leaf that falls at breath of icy wind;
A wave that lifts, and pauses on the shore;
A bird that, singing, flies from clouds behind,
And, silent, falls in deeper clouds before.
A leaf that falls at breath of icy wind;
A wave that lifts, and pauses on the shore;
A bird that, singing, flies from clouds behind,
And, silent, falls in deeper clouds before.
II.
Not so; though dust we are, to dust is given
Gems from a king, more prized than moon or star;
He gave the eye, to hold the span of heaven;
Thoughts to contain the rising worlds afar,
And from our homely planet’s school we rise,
To read the shining letters of the skies.
Gems from a king, more prized than moon or star;
He gave the eye, to hold the span of heaven;
Thoughts to contain the rising worlds afar,
And from our homely planet’s school we rise,
To read the shining letters of the skies.
These stars above that tread their ceaseless measure,
The blossom at our feet that sucks the ground,
The stream of life that runs though pain and pleasure,
By one deep law of harmony are bound.
The blossom at our feet that sucks the ground,
The stream of life that runs though pain and pleasure,
By one deep law of harmony are bound.
III.
Strange fate is ours! A spirit must remember;
We seize the past, we breathe its faded day,
Like travellers in same ancient, painted chamber,
We gaze on hours that long have passed away;
And man, who speaks o’er continent and sea;
Whose words outlive the ages past, outstrip the years to be;
Who, ere the starry centuries have run,
Marks the swift comet, or the shadowing sun,
Yet knows not whence he comes, or whither goes;
King for a day—a beggar at its close.
We seize the past, we breathe its faded day,
Like travellers in same ancient, painted chamber,
We gaze on hours that long have passed away;
And man, who speaks o’er continent and sea;
Whose words outlive the ages past, outstrip the years to be;
Who, ere the starry centuries have run,
Marks the swift comet, or the shadowing sun,
Yet knows not whence he comes, or whither goes;
King for a day—a beggar at its close.
IV.
Just at the turn of night I heard the seas
And woke; the golden-fronted caravan
Led by Orion’s glittering scimitar,
The beckoning cross, the wreathed Pleiades,
The bright procession of an unknown plan
Paced on the hill of heaven, star after star.
What bourne seek ye, with solemn steps and slow?
Whence do ye come? O whither do you go?
And woke; the golden-fronted caravan
Led by Orion’s glittering scimitar,
The beckoning cross, the wreathed Pleiades,
The bright procession of an unknown plan
Paced on the hill of heaven, star after star.
What bourne seek ye, with solemn steps and slow?
Whence do ye come? O whither do you go?
V.
Jupiter hung on the moon, near the western lawn,
Piloting in her silver-sailed ship
Low in the sky; but in the pallid East,
Like some bright spirit that walks before the dawn,
June’s planet rose above the wooded slip,
And slowly there the breath of day increased.
You seemed to hear the whisper of the light
Rising above the sunken bar of night.
Piloting in her silver-sailed ship
Low in the sky; but in the pallid East,
Like some bright spirit that walks before the dawn,
June’s planet rose above the wooded slip,
And slowly there the breath of day increased.
You seemed to hear the whisper of the light
Rising above the sunken bar of night.
FINIS.
D.: V.: 7.89.
COLSTON AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.