...
"If but the Vine and Love Abjuring Band
Are in the Prophets' Paradise to stand,
Alack, I doubt the Prophets' Paradise,
Were empty as the hollow of one's hand."
.
THE STUDIO
He smiled, saying: "Seek her throughout
the world."
I said, "Why tell me of the world?
My world is here, between these walls and the sheet of glass above; here
among gilded flagons and dull jewelled arms, tarnished frames and canvasses,
black chests and high backed chairs, quaintly carved and stained in blue
and gold.
"For whom do you wait?" he said,
and I answered, "When she comes I shall know her."
On my hearth a tongue of flame whispered
secrets to the whitening ashes. In the street below I heard footsteps,
a voice, and a song.
"For whom then do you wait?" he
said, and I answered, "I shall know her."
Footsteps, a voice, and a song in
the street below, and I knew the song but neither the steps nor the voice.
"Fool!" he cried, "the song is the
same, the voice and steps have but changed with years!"
On the hearth a tongue of flame
whispered above the whitening ashes: "Wait no more; they have passed, the
steps and the voice in the street below."
Then he smiled, saying: "For whom
do you wait? Seek her throughout the world!"
I answered, "My world is here, between
these walls and the sheet of glass above; here among gilded flagons and
dull jewelled arms, tarnished frames and canvasses, black chests and high
backed chairs, quaintly carved and stained in blue and gold."
.
THE PHANTOM
The Phantom of the Past would go
no further.
"If it is true," she sighed, "that
you find in me a friend, let us turn back together. You will forget, here,
under the summer sky."
I held her close, pleading, caressing;
I seized her, white with anger, but she resisted.
"If it is true," she sighed, "that
you find in me a friend, let us turn back together."
The Phantom of the Past would go
no further.
.
THE SACRIFICE
I went into a field of flowers,
whose petals are whiter than snow and whose hearts are pure gold.
Far afield a woman cried, "I have
killed him I loved!" and from a jar she poured blood upon the flowers whose
petals are whiter than snow and whose hearts are pure gold.
Far afield I followed, and on the
jar I read a thousand names, while from within the fresh blood bubbled
to the brim.
"I have killed him I loved!" she
cried. "The world's athirst; now let it drink!" She passed, and far afield
I watched her pouring blood upon the flowers whose petals are whiter than
snow and whose hearts are pure gold.
.
DESTINY
I came to the bridge which few may
pass.
"Pass!" cried the keeper, but I
laughed, saying, "There is time;" and he smiled and shut the gates.
To the bridge which few may pass
came young an old. All were refused. Idly I stood and counted them, until,
wearied of their noise and lamentations, I came again to the bridge which
few may pass.
Those in the throng about the gates
shrieked out, "He comes too late!" But I laughed saying, "There is time."
"Pass!" cried the keeper as I entered;
then smiled and shut the gates.
.
THE THRONG
There, where the throng was thickest
in the street, I stood with Pierrot. All eyes were turned to me.
"What are they laughing at?" I asked,
but he grinned, dusting the chalk from my black cloak. "I cannot see; it
must be something droll, perhaps an honest thief!"
All eyes were turned on me.
"He has robbed you of your purse!"
they laughed.
"My purse!" I cried; "Pierrot help!
it is a thief!"
They laughed: "He has robbed you
of your purse!"
Then Truth stepped out holding a
mirror. "If he is an honest thief," cried Truth, "Pierrot shall find him
with this mirror!" but he only grinned dusting the chalk from my black
cloak.
"You see," he said, "Truth is an
honest thief, she brings you back your mirror."
All eyes were turned on me.
"Arrest Truth!" I cried, forgetting
it was not a mirror but a purse I lost, standing with Pierrot, there, where
the throng was thickest in the street.
.
THE JESTER
"Was she fair?" I asked, but he
only chuckled, listening to the bells jingling on his cap.
"Stabbed," he tittered; "think of
the long journey, the days of peril, the dreadful nights! Think how he
wandered, for her sake, year after year, through hostile lands, yearning
for kith and kin, yearning for her!"
"Stabbed," he tittered, listening
to the bells jingling on his cap.
"She kissed him at the gate," he
tittered, "but in the hall his brother's welcome touched his heart."
"Was she fair?" I asked.
"Stabbed," he chuckled; "think of
the long journey, the days of peril, the dreadful nights! Think how he
wandered, for her sake, year after year, through hostile lands, yearning
for kith and kin, yearning for her!
"She kissed him at the gate, but
in the hall his brother's welcome touched his heart."
"Was she fair?" I asked; but he
only snarled, listening to the bells jingling on his cap.
.
THE GREEN ROOM
The Clown turned his powdered face
to the mirror.
"If to be fair is to be beautiful,"
he said, "who can compare with me in my white mask?"
"Who can compare with him his white
mask?" I asked of Death beside me.
"Who can compare with me?" said
Death, "for I am paler still."
"You are beautiful," sighed the
Clown, turning his powdered face from the mirror.
.
THE LOVE TEST
"If it is true that you love," said
Love, "then wait no longer. Give her these jewels which would dishonour
her and so dishonour you in loving one dishonoured. If it is true that
you love," said Love, "then wait no longer."
I took the jewels and went to her,
but she trod upon them, sobbing: "Teach me to wait, I love you!"
"Then wait, if it is true," said
Love.
