Poems (Tennyson, 1833)/The Hesperides
THE HESPERIDES.
The Northwind fall'n, in the newstarrèd nightZidonian Hanno, voyaging beyondThe hoary promontory of SoloëPast Thymiaterion, in calmèd bays,Between the southern and the western Horn,Heard neither warbling of the nightingale,Nor melody o’ the Lybian lotusfluteBlown seaward from the shore; but from a slopeThat ran bloombright into the Atlantic blue,Beneath a highland leaning down a weightOf cliffs, and zoned below with cedarshade,Came voices, like the voices in a dream,Continuous, till he reached the other sea.
SONG.
i.The golden apple, the golden apple, the hallowed fruit,Guard it well, guard it warily,Singing airily,Standing about the charmèd root.Round about all is mute,As the snowfield on the mountain-peaks,As the sandfield at the mountain-foot.Crocodiles in briny creeksSleep and stir not: all is mute.If ye sing not, if ye make false measure,We shall lose eternal pleasure,Worth eternal want of rest.Laugh not loudly: watch the treasureOf the wisdom of the west.In a corner wisdom whispers. Five and three(Let it not be preached abroad) make an awful mystery.For the blossom unto threefold music bloweth;Evermore it is born anew; And the sap to threefold music floweth,From the rootDrawn in the dark,Up to the fruit,Creeping under the fragrant bark,Liquid gold, honeysweet, thro’ and thro’.Keen-eyed Sisters, singing airily,Looking warilyEvery way,Guard the apple night and day,Lest one from the East come and take it away.
ii.Father Hesper, Father Hesper, watch, watch, ever and aye,Looking under silver hair with a silver eye.Father, twinkle not thy stedfast sight;Kingdoms lapse, and climates change, and races die;Honour comes with mystery;Hoarded wisdom brings delight.Number, tell them over and number How many the mystic fruit-tree holds,Lest the redcombed dragon slumberRolled together in purple folds.Look to him, father, lest he wink, and the golden apple be stol'n away,For his ancient heart is drunk with overwatchings night and day,Round about the hallowed fruittree curled—Sing away, sing aloud and evermore in the wind, without stop,Lest his scalèd eyelid drop,For he is older than the world.If he waken, we waken,Rapidly levelling eager eyes.If he sleep, we sleep,Dropping the eyelid over the eyes.If the golden apple be takenThe world will be overwise.Five links, a golden chain, are we,Hesper, the dragon, and sisters three,Bound about the golden tree.
iii.Father Hesper, Father Hesper, watch, watch, night and day,Lest the old wound of the world be healèd,The glory unsealèd,The golden apple stol'n away,And the ancient secret revealèd.Look from west to east along:Father, old Himla weakens, Caucasus is bold and strong.Wandering waters unto wandering waters call;Let them clash together, foam and fall.Out of watchings, out of wiles,Comes the bliss of secret smiles.All things are not told to all,Half-round the mantling night is drawn,Purplefringed with even and dawn.Hesper hateth Phosphor, evening hateth morn.
iv.Every flower and every fruit the redolent breathOf this warm seawind ripeneth, Arching the billow in his sleep;But the land-wind wandereth,Broken by the highland-steep,Two streams upon the violet deep:For the western sun and the western star,And the low west wind, breathing afar,The end of day and beginning of nightMake the apple holy and bright;Holy and bright, round and full, bright and blest,Mellowed in a land of rest;Watch it warily day and night;All good things are in the west,Till midnoon the cool east lightIs shut out by the round of the tall hillbrow;But when the fullfaced sunset yellowlyStays on the flowering arch of the bough,The luscious fruitage clustereth mellowly,Goldenkernelled, goldencored,Sunset ripened above on the tree.The world is wasted with fire and sword,But the apple of gold hangs over the sea. Five links, a golden chain, are we,Hesper, the dragon, and sisters three,Daughters three,Bound aboutAll round aboutThe gnarlèd bole of the charmèd tree.The golden apple, the golden apple, the hallowed fruit,Guard it well, guard it warily,Watch it warily,Singing airily,Standing about the charmèd root.