IN EXCELSIS
Translated from the French by Celia Louise Crittenton
As well as the hunter eagle, familiar in the clouds,
Man! Mount by bounds in the resplendent air.
The old earth, below, hushing and diminishing.
Mount. The serene abyss opens to thy powerful flight.
The billows of the blue that are beaten by the sun.
The earth sinks itself in a mist below.
Mount. The flame trembles and pales, the sky chills,
A dull twilight embraces the boundless.
Mount, mount and lose thyself in eternal night.
A calm abysmal gulf, black, formless, unlimited,
The entire vanishing of matter
With unutterable and complete blindness.
Spirit! Mount in thy turn toward the only light,
Below let go out all the ancient torches,
Mount to where on fire the Source burns and flashes unparted.
From dream to dream go! To the best and most beautiful.
To climb the steps of the infinite Ladder,
Press the supine gods in their sacred places.
The intelligible ceases, and lo, there is agony,
Contempt of self, and the shadow, and remorse,
The tremendous renouncement of all.
Light, where then art thou ? Perhaps in death.
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