Poems (Greenwell)/To * *
TO * *.
"Then, towards the right, I saw a cloud of the colour of opal, and towards the left, a dusky cloud, and under both, the appearance as of a falling shower; under the latter, as of rain at the end of autumn, and under the former, as of dew at the beginning of spring, and immediately I returned from the spirit into the body, and from the spiritual into the natural world."—Swedenborg.
I say not to Thee, "Dost Thou mind Thee how that eve above the dell We sat together?" for I know thou must Remember it, as I remember, well.
I held thy hand in mine; We spoke of many things, with frequent calm Of tender pause between; the air was balm That stirred the pages of the Book we held Betwixt our hearts, till by their warmth compelled, We brought its faded characters to shine Upon us, tracing them with finger fine Still further back, and when, upon a word We paused, that time had worn, or grief had slurred,Our spirits drew the closer, till at last I read, as if by hearth-light flame, each line Within the glow thy soul around thee cast, Whilst thou didst read them by the light of mine.
And loath its clasps to close We hung above that Book; we kissed its leaves, And marvelled at their fragrance, till a rose Dropt from them, gathered once when summer-eves Were kindest, it had withered there—the bloom Had fallen from it, yet, within its tomb It strewed with odours all its winding sheet—Fragrant in life, among the dead how sweet!
I held thee by the hand; The evening deepened round us, still we read. Evoking those old spells, till from the Dead We summoned up our Youth and saw it stand Before us beautiful! upon its brow Sat pain and sweetness mingling, even now I know not which was victor; then we took Our counsel with the pages of the Book To reckon with it harshly, but this dust Turned on us sudden w4th the look of yore—And of the wealth it took away, the trust It broke with us, all question we forbore.
But even as a child, Lured by a bird's clear singing, makes a track Within the wood's deep heart, did fancies wild And lovely draw us further, further back; Until, 'mid windings green and lone we felt Our feet were deep in flowers we loved before Those grassy paths brake sudden, and we dwelt In Arcady no more!
We murmured, "Yea, no more We know our Eden's place, yet is it well; Although the gate be barred for us, the Door Is ever open."
Suddenly there fell A glory from the Heavens, and all the dell Was filled with quivering light, as in a cup Its woody hollow caught and kindled up The sun's last sinking flashes; on the sky There was no cloud, no flaming bar, no line Of fire along the West, but solemnly Heaven glowed unto its depths, as if the curse Were lifted upwards from our universe One moment's Sabbath space, and only Love Stooped down above its World!—so from above A smile dropt visibly on Earth, that prest To meet that sign of reconcilement—blest On brow and bosom blest.
We spoke no more; Our souls were silenced; then we thought to fold The pages of the volume worn and old That still lay open, but the sunlight fell And tracked each letter luminous and bold, Until it shone a golden Chronicle,— O sweet, sad Book, traced o'er With marvels! light must full Upon thy page from Heaven, before We see that Love writ all!
II.
Then while we mused, a word Fell on us, spoken once on desert plain, "Go, gather up these fragments that remain. And store them carefully, that none be lost;" And at that Voice methought the ashes stirred Within the Vale of Vision;[1] sere and dryEach severed hope, each shred of memory Did shake and come together. Suddenly Our life from days when infancy was sweet Stood up before us, all from head to feet Transfigured fair.
"How holy is this place!"I said, and wist not what I spake; methought I felt like one upon his journey brought By ways he knows not of; these pathways dim Had ever seemed their promised end to cheat, Yet had they led to Him In whom Life's tangled, broken threads complete Are gathered up, its wasted things made meet For holier use, its roughness smoothed, its bitter turned to sweet!
Then saw we how this hour That we had chidden with, this mortal life, That broke its faith with us, had not the power To keep it better; weariness and strife So marred its gentler purpose; yet comprest Among its thick-set thorns, because the air Did breathe about it all too chill and rare, Our Past had held our Future, like a Rose That may not yet its perfect soul disclose, Lest angry winds should scatter and molest; So shut within this narrow bud, its woes Were but the crumpled leaves too closely prest; And all its loveliness did but enclose The germ of after beauty, now a Guest, But soon to be a Dweller!
But soon to be a Dweller!So we stood,While gradual to our feet the shadows fell; We looked abroad, and all was very good; On all within was written, "It is well;" For things that were and would be met and kissed Each other in the heart, that like a child For loss of each bright joy that it had missed, Was by a loving promise reconciled!
- ↑ Ezek. xxxvii.