The Tower (Yeats)/Two Songs from a Play
TWO SONGS FROM A PLAY
II saw a staring virgin standWhere holy Dionysus died,And tear the heart out of his side,And lay the heart upon her handAnd bear that beating heart away;And then did all the Muses singOf Magnus Annus at the spring,As though God's death were but a play.
Another Troy must rise and set,Another lineage feed the crow,Another Argo's painted prowDrive to a flashier bauble yet.The Roman Empire stood appalled:It dropped the reins of peace and warWhen that fierce virgin and her StarOut of the fabulous darkness called.
IIIn pity for man's darkening thoughtHe walked that room and issued thenceIn Galilean turbulence;The Babylonian Starlight broughtA fabulous, formless darkness in;Odour of blood when Christ was slainMade Plato's tolerance in vainAnd vain the Doric discipline.
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