XIX. MOUNT CALASAY.
1.
The Rajah, scattering curses as he rose,
Soar’d to the Swerga, and resum’d his throne.
Not for his own redoubled agony,
Which now through heart and brain,
With renovated pain,
Rush’d to its seat, Ladurlad breathes that groan,
That groan is for his child; he groan’d to see
The lovely one defil’d with leprosy,
Which, as the enemy vindictive fled,
O’er all her frame with quick contagion spread.
She, wondering at events so passing strange,
And fill’d with hope and fear,
And joy to see the Tyrant disappear,
And glad expectance of her Glendoveer,
Perceiv’d not in herself the hideous change.
His burning pain, she thought, had forced the groan
Her father breath’d; his agonies alone
Were present to her mind; she claspt his knees,
Wept for his Curse, and did not feel her own.
2.
Nor when she saw her plague, did her good heart,
True to itself, even for a moment fail.
Ha, Rajah! with disdainful smile she cries,
Mighty and wise and wicked as thou art,
Still thy blind vengeance acts a friendly part.
Shall I not thank thee for this scurf and scale
Of dire deformity, whose loathsomeness,
Surer than panoply of strongest mail,
Arms me against all foes? Oh, better so,
Better such foul disgrace,
Than that this innocent face
Should tempt thy wooing! That I need not dread;
Nor ever impious foe
Will offer outrage now, nor farther woe
Will beauty draw on my unhappy head;
Safe through the unholy world may Kailyal go.
3.
Her face in virtuous pride
Was lifted to the skies,
As him and his poor vengeance she defied;
But earthward, when she ceas’d, she turn’d her eyes,
As if she sought to hide
The tear which in her own despite would rise.
Did then the thought of her own Glendoveer
Call forth that natural tear?
Was it a woman’s fear,
A thought of earthly love, which troubled her?
Like yon thin cloud amid the moonlight sky
That flits before the wind
And leaves no trace behind,
The womanly pang past over Kailyal’s mind.
This is a loathsome sight to human eye,
Half-shrinking at herself, the Maiden thought,
Will it be so to him? Oh surely not!
The immortal Powers, who see
Through the poor wrappings of mortality,
Behold the soul, the beautiful soul, within,
Exempt from age and wasting malady,
And undeform’d, while pure and free from sin.
This is a loathsome sight to human eye,
But not to eyes divine,
Ereenia, Son of Heaven, oh not to thine!
4.
The wrongful thought of fear, the womanly pain
Had past away, her heart was calm again.
She rais’d her head, expecting now to see
The Glendoveer appear;
Where hath he fled, quoth she,
That he should tarry now? Oh had she known
Whither the adventurous Son of Heaven was flown,
Strong as her spirit was, it had not borne
The awful thought, nor dar’d to hope for his return.
5.
For he in search of Seeva’s throne was gone,
To tell his tale of wrong;
In search of Seeva’s own abode
The daring one began his heavenly road.
O wild emprize! above the farthest skies
He hop’d to rise!
Him who is thron’d beyond the reach of thought,
The Alone, the Inaccessible, he sought.
O wild emprize! for when in days of yore,
For proud pre-eminence of power,
Brama and Veeshnoo, wild with rage, contended,
And Seeva, in his might,
Their dread contention ended;
Before their sight
In form a fiery column did he tower,
Whose head above the highest height extended,
Whose base below the deepest depth descended.
Downward, its depth to sound,
Veeshnoo a thousand years explor’d
The fathomless profound,
And yet no base he found:
Upward, to reach its head,
Ten myriad years the aspiring Brama soar’d,
And still, as up he fled,
Above him still the Immeasurable spread.
The rivals own’d their lord,
And trembled and ador’d.
How shall the Glendoveer attain
What Brama and what Veeshnoo sought in vain?
6.
Ne’er did such thought of lofty daring enter
Celestial Spirit’s mind. O wild adventure
That throne to find, for he must leave behind
This World, that in the centre,
Within its salt-sea girdle, lies confin’d;
Yea the Seven Earths that, each with its own ocean,
Ring clasping ring, compose the mighty round.
What power of motion,
In less than endless years shall bear him there,
Along the limitless extent,
To the utmost bound of the remotest spheres?
What strength of wing
Suffice to pierce the Golden Firmament
That closes all within?
Yet he hath past the measureless extent,
And pierced the Golden Firmament;
For Faith hath given him power, and Space and Time
Vanish before that energy sublime.
Nor doth Eternal Night,
And outer Darkness, check his resolute flight;
By strong desire through all he makes his way,
Till Seeva’s Seat appears, . . behold Mount Calasay!
7.
Behold the Silver Mountain! round about
Seven ladders stand, so high, the aching eye,
Seeking their tops in vain amid the sky,
Might deem they led from earth to highest heaven.
Ages would pass away,
And Worlds with age decay,
Ere one whose patient feet from ring to ring
Must win their upward way,
Could reach the summit of Mount Calasay.
But that strong power that nerv’d his wing,
That all-surmounting will,
Intensity of faith and holiest love,
Sustain’d Ereenia still,
And he hath gain’d the plain, the sanctuary above.
8.
Lo, there the Silver Bell,
That, self-sustain’d, hangs buoyant in the air!
Lo! the broad Table there, too bright
For mortal sight,
From whose four sides the bordering gems unite
Their harmonizing rays,
In one mid fount of many-colour’d light.
The stream of splendour, flashing as it flows,
Plays round, and feeds the stem of yon celestial Rose.
Where is the Sage whose wisdom can declare
The hidden things of that mysterious flower,
That flower which serves all mysteries to bear?
The sacred triangle is there,
Holding the Emblem which no tongue may tell.
Is this the Heaven of Heavens, where Seeva’s self doth dwell?
9.
Here first the Glendoveer
Felt his wing flag, and paus’d upon his flight.
Was it that fear came over him, when here
He saw the imagin’d throne appear?
Not so, for his immortal sight
Endur’d the Table’s light;
Distinctly he beheld all things around,
And doubt and wonder rose within his mind
That this was all he found.
Howbeit he lifted up his voice and spake.
There is oppression in the World below;
Earth groans beneath the yoke; yea, in her woe,
She asks if the Avenger’s eye is blind?
Awake, O Lord, awake!
Too long thy vengeance sleepeth. Holy One!
Put thou thy terrors on for mercy’s sake,
And strike the blow, in justice to mankind!
10.
So as he pray’d, intenser faith he felt,
His spirit seem’d to melt
With ardent yearnings of increasing love;
Upward he turn’d his eyes
As if there should be something yet above;
Let me not, Seeva! seek in vain! he cries,
Thou art not here, . . for how should these contain thee?
Thou art not here, . . for how should I sustain thee?
But thou, where’er thou art,
Canst hear the voice of prayer,
Canst hear the humble heart.
Thy dwelling who can tell,
Or who, O Lord, hath seen thy secret throne?
But thou art not alone,
Not unapproachable!
O all-containing Mind,
Thou who art every where,
Whom all who seek shall find,
Hear me, O Seeva! hear the suppliant’s prayer!
11.
So saying, up he sprung,
And struck the Bell, which self-suspended, hung
Before the mystic Rose.
From side to side the silver tongue
Melodious swung, and far and wide
Soul-thrilling tones of heavenly music rung.
Abash’d, confounded,
It left the Glendoveer; . . yea all astounded
In overpowering fear and deep dismay;
For when that Bell had sounded,
The Rose, with all the mysteries it surrounded,
The Bell, the Table, and Mount Calasay,
The holy Hill itself, with all thereon,
Even as a morning dream before the day
Dissolves away, they faded and were gone.
12.
Where shall he rest his wing, where turn for flight,
For all around is Light,
Primal, essential, all-pervading Light!
Heart cannot think, nor tongue declare,
Nor eyes of Angel bear
That Glory unimaginably bright;
The Sun himself had seem’d
A speck of darkness there,
Amid that Light of Light!
13.
Down fell the Glendoveer,
Down through all regions, to our mundane sphere
He fell; but in his ear
A voice, which from within him came, was heard,
The indubitable word
Of Him to whom all secret things are known:
Go, ye who suffer, go to Yamen’s throne.
He hath the remedy for every woe;
He setteth right whate’er is wrong below.
