THE PRAISE OF LIFE BY LAURENCE BINYON LONDON ELKIN MATHEWS, VIGO STREET 1896 ^ OHVieiL G^BoHCrBS J>esTi^e^^ THE PRAISE OF LIFE -ft^c ^. MONTENEGRO Coiled in shadow, the serpent seas Engirdle perilous hills sublime : By tortuous, steep degrees Toward the mo rn I climb, efore me the mountam soaririg vast Secludes the bright east ; cold the air Descends from ridges, massed In peaks, snowily faii\____ But pale in the northern distance blushes On sparkling ranges a light austere ; Tingeing the shade, it flushes Edge and barrier sheer. Cattaro roofs and Cattaro quay Grow faint and delicate; ships that ride On the dense blue slumbering sea I^^hT^^d/^- THE PRAISE OF LIFE Dwindle ; on either side From mirroring gulfs the mountains bare Are mapped to the heaven, strange as i dream/ ' The Adriatic afar -^ y Trembles, a molten gleam : Till the sun salutes me, met with him On the naked summit; closed behind, That vision of countries dim Pales and fades from the mind. Now drinking the eager lofty air. The spirit leaps, as the eyes behold Valleys severely fair. Freedom's fortress of old. Young, stern soldiers in rich attire. Haughtily moving with silent pace And eyes of a tranquil fire ; Sons of a tameless race ; Aged mothers, bowed with toil. Old men, bearded and gray, are here : Plants of a stubborn soil That knows not the seed of fear, O Mountain, mother of men, that bearest Heroes ; foster-mother of fame ! I hail thee ; well thou wearest Thy dark, invincible name. Thou plantest the footstep firm, and the heart In the breast strengthenest, hardy to try Peril, and play its part With full, unwavering eye. THE PRAISE OF LIFE 5 At mighty breasts of the ancient hills Nourished, thy sons in their veins yet keep The force that feeds and fills Torrents, to dance and leap. Trees that with clenched root possess Their rocky beds, oak and pine, Alone thou endurest ; nor less _ Permittest in children of thine. O small and remote the loud affairs Of cities appear : the dusty strife, Choking with envious care 1 The caged glory of life/ :? / Recedes : from the market of wrangling cries, Like a falcon, the spirit expands her wings ; For the mountains, the mountains rise. And the heart, answering, sings. And clearer, with each step climbing higher. The wide horizon dilates within; Keener the keen desire Freedom complete to win : Till now with imperious joy I taste The eternal fountain : Life supreme, That of old in order placed The spheres of her starry dream ; That moulded this blanching sea of stone, In silence raging, motionless hurled. Thrills me, myself to own. And cast the cloak of the world. For now no longer a slave, yoked ill THE PRAISE OF LIFE With marching Destiny, marches here, His hours alert to fill, Man, of the mountain a peer. As the tamer of horses matches his stride To his vehement, proudly pacing steed. He goes, strong Fate beside. Fearless, a master, freed. ■Ui/ THE PRAISE OF LIFE n DOWN IN A SHADED GARDEN Down in a shaded garden I laid upon earth my head : The deep trees murmured, darkly fresh, Over my bead'; I looked through living leaves to the sky, / Odours and songs were quivering nigh j The warm grass touched my cheek as I lay And care from me was far away / (// As a child to its mother, to Earth I drew ; /^ I felt her true. Of Life, sweet Life, enamoured I closed my eyes, to feel . , / The sweetness > ^GP e e to the inmost veins nxXnfc£/ / And the whole heart steal ; 11 Sacred Life, more sweet and fair Than all her children of earth and air. Fountain dearer than joy in the breast. In the blue I adored, in the grass I caressed : Then Earth, my mother, leaned to my ear. And spoke me clear. To thee the rose her odour, Her glory dedicates ; 8 THE PRAISE OF LIFE And thee the pink's sweet-budded fringe Of snow awaits. For thee is the sprinkled fire of the broom, For thee the azalea burns her bloom ; O child, does thy heart not tell thee how Thy joy is answered from every bough ? In the throat of the bird, in the sap of the tree, 'Tis all for thee / Stricken with joy and wonder I raised my eyes around, Ajid saw what mystery flowered fdr me r^n that enchanted ground ! " The roses, the roses rich entwined. Heavy with love to me inclined ; Yearning up from the dusk of death They trembled toward me with living breath. none that loved me is dead, I knew, And each is true. Now forth to the world attended By the spirits of that hour, 1 bear within me a charm secure As the scent asleep in a flower. Wise men now, profound in care, Pass by me with distrustful air : But the child perceives, and the careless boy Now admits me of his joy. And the c ick man omifec to - tako my handa^ An d. undei ' standc . Ah J nif '^ ^ ^^j4jfY^ ^^^^4^ THE PRAISE OF LIFE III ILLUMINATION Is it joy, or is it peace, Senses' magical release, That triumphant swells my heart Where I walk the fields apart ? Miracle of morning new I Meadows dabbled fresh in dew ; Straight stemmed woods that darkly still Stand upon the rounded hill, Where the silver saplings gleam On the fringes of a dream ; Mists that in faint fleeces blur All the frayed plumes of the fir, And that whiten the fresh green Of the bosomed field between. Melted ever more and more By the level beams that pour Sparkling through the sleepy, rare. Delicately coloured air ; Flowers that wake from peace to peace ; lo THE PRAISE OF LIFE Subtle-scented loneliness ; World that drenches through and through A stillness exquisite as dew ; Ploughman ploughing nigh at hand Along the open hazy land, Calm as though a part of those Brown furrows over which he goes : — O what fount is it in me All this solitude sets free ? Far from miseries, that dart . / Pangs of pity at the heart^^ -'A Far from prisoning tasks that hide The vision true of freedom wide, Through a melting curtain clear The stir of spring I see and hear : T own spirit's mysterie s ^ y/ -^ tly the young bearris surprise/ ") / 0/ And my still thought, scarce aware, / Mingles into radiant air. Now my eyes I cast around On an unsubstantial ground : As I gaze, I seem to grow Into Earth, her longing know, Feel the swelling of the bud (\-[ if ^twrrr within my blood, C^LucrU^ u^iX/m^ And the grasses shooting higher j J lilrp a wave of my desire. nYC/ . Deeper and deeper sinks my mind ^ / To a charm intense resigne^ THE PRAISE OF LIFE ii Deep into the grain of things Dissolved with its imaginings. Now the ploughman ploughs, as he Furrowed lines of destiny : Now the oak his shadow due Claims as if from earth it grew, Not by casual beams of day Given, and then stolen away. I too from Time's ample womb Summon my appointed doom. And conjure the hours to bring Each its rapture, each its sting. In a vista long appears The close-peopled street of years. There the hands that I shall clasp Are stretched out, my own to grasp. Ready in my heart the throe Burns for each awaiting woe. Sorrow with her silent spade Graves for unborn hones hath made. p / Joy about me glides jjier arm ^ / Ignorant of grief ana harm, / Like a child that only knows Where 'tis loved and thither goes. Onward on the path begun I perceive my footsteps run. Yet backward stretching all I find In the mirror of my mind j U^JIVERSITY Ot CALU-uKNiA UBRARY THE PRAISE OF LIFE In a hundred sleeps behold My own face becoming old ; And inaudibly drawn near Death has whispered in my ear. Now my soul disturbed at last Trembles at the future vast. How shall I the long stair climb ? How support thy burden, Time ? WluL l i hAl hel p mc,^uldt; me ihmugli - ^ - T i Oi my own hfln d holds tho oluCi THE PRAISE OF LIFE 13 IV FIRST DAY OF SUMMER Sweetest of all delights are the vainest, merest/ 4 / Hours when breath is joy, for the breathing's / sake. Summer awoke this morning, and early awake I rose refreshed, and gladly my eyes saluted The entering beam of the sun that laughed his clearest. I too laughed for pleasure, and vowed straight- way To stream and sun the flower of an idle day, With summer sweetly enjoyed and friends well suited. Merry were we, as stepping aboard we laid The shaven oars in order ; merry the^ leap Of the oar, that grasped the water and stirred from sleep A wave, to tremble ^st us in foamy rings. With rhyming fall, and with bright returning blade •// 14 THE PRAISE OF LIFE Impetuous music urges the rippling keel ; Softly our necks the flow of the breezes feel ; And blue, and thronged with birds, the morning sings. And lo, the elms, in a day reclothed and gleam- ing In delicate youth, above us stir their leaves. The eye, to naked winter used, receives A magic pleasure : and still the 'shore we follow Winding in flowery meadows ; freshly streaming The river meets us ever from fields unknown : As light we travel his curving mirror lorie, No longer I en\^ you, O frolic swallow. Till moored at noon by shadowy turf, and ended Awhile that pleasant toil, what relish keen At ease to lie amid flowers, with rustling green O'ershaded; there, reclined by a bubbling pool The rushing weir in murmur and foam blended, Entrancing ear and eye, caresses the brain With smooth perpetual sound, the lulling strain Of water weariless poured, and glittering cool. O then, refreshed, in the level light serene Our boat re-entering, her prow homeward turned, How soft we glided ; soft, as evening burned Through drooping leaves, our liquid furrow stirred THE PRAISE OF LIFE 15 TJie dim green heights of the elm, reflefted green In shadowy water ; at last the dreaming shore From its own enchanted mirror we knew no more: Softly we glided downward, and spoke no word. Nor took we land, till the West in a blush was dying, And over the twilit meadow we loitered home. Even now in my ear is rushing the constant foam. And the dappled stream is alight with the wind's laughter. As I taste, in the cool of the darkness dreamily The sun yet warm upon limbs that sweetly ache: Drowsed deliciously, still I linger awake, Only to keep my delight, and to look not after. i6 THE PRAISE OF LIFE song; What boat is this that bears My soul on an ocean, fanned By new arriving airs From an undiscovered land ? . Is this Love's magic boat, and these ^ / The wave/of his unsounded seas ? ' Pangs of the soul's desire My voyage swiftly urge ; Day-long I flee, afire To overtake the verge ; But still into infinity Escape before me sky and sea. Anchor, my heart ; abide. And search the seas no more. Out of this water wide Never shall dawn a shore, Till wave and sun have ceased to gleam, • And wondrous truth dies out in dream. THE PRAISE OF LIFE 17 VI SUDDEN JOY O WHAT magic shall compare Of the fresh earth or bright air To the joy that )love around My full heart so swift has wound, Far beyond hope's trembling flight Back recoiling in delight. Swifter than the lime that weaves Out of radiant sudden leaves 'Twixt enchanting night and night Her green tent of fragrant light, Joy with bloom arrays me sweet, Spring within a day complete. 'I THE PRAISE OF LIFE VII Pale are the words I build for my delight To house in j pale as the chill mist that holds An ardent morn. My fire to others' sight But dimly burns through the frail speech moulds ; I cast but shadows from my inward light. But, O my Joy, thou understandest well Both what I can and what I cannot tell. It Fj:efflrtHee my ^ong proceeds, and thou that art f truth the dearest portion and the best In me some drops from the -eternal Heart Hast poured J^^amLsin'ce they afe^ \ (In turbulent uproar . ,^^^^ ' The full voice of the Atlantic holds theair): The sad South over desolation blows, The clouds wpftn thftk -wild race never sleep. But they the shaken snow3 Of trampling breakers heed not, fior the hiss Of quarreMng fringes hurried up the strand, To fade upon the darkened, glistening sand. Skirting that fretful line, they from amid The matted shells and seaweed heedfully Glean their poor treasure hid. The scattered driftwood, fragments bleached and dry. Implacable ocean, in whose ear Even at this instant, cries come uselessly From mouths that the salt wave and gripping fear THE PRAiSE OF LIFE 2i / Together choke, fj/r in the lonely storm, / ^^^^ Where might/y ^ips, conquered and battling/ cl drown j ' / He to this' powerless pair their simple store Permits, refraining: fearing not his frown They his expended rages hold in fee ; And them his violent armies woiJcl no more 'ft/ Than the pale poppy on the negle6led shore. ^ But now as evening closes, they begin Their homeward path, bordered with heath and pine, And see afar their cottage roof, and wall White under red leaves of the October vine ; Till glad and tired they win The door, and let their cherished burden fall, Then on the swept stones make their happy fire. Soon a flame leaps, and in the wavering gloom The dim wall smiles, and every nook of home Invites them warm in welcoming attire. (The ripe gourd basks his jovial yellow girth ; * Rosily burnished gleam the onion strings — Above ; the pottage simmers in low mirth, And in an earthen brazier chestnuts crack. But each is busy now, that nothing lack. And she in snatches sings Old songs, and he with chiding feigned the while Chides her, and meets her answer with a smile / 22 THE PRAISE OF LIFE At last, when all is done to their desire, They sup : the low lamp kindles their old cheeks And features moulded in the cast of Earth, Their infinite companion : she but speaks Simply to them, in few words ; death and birth, Winter and summer, rain and frost and sun : Not they a care beyond the task invent. Enough, if day provide their need-day done, They by each others's side sleep, well content. THE PRAISE OF LIFE 33 X THE HEATHER BRANCH Out of the pale night air, V?^ From wandering lone in the warm and' scented k' wood, / The sighing, shadowy, bright solitude Of leafy glade, and the rough upland bare, To thee I come, a branch Of heather in my hand, — the sprays yet keep Drops of the dewy moonshine trembling there — And my heart filled full of a happy mood, To thee that wakest, while the others sleep. Dost thou not know me ? Yet I know Thee, and the ache that will not let thee rest. When thou wast tossing, deep oppressed. And thy hot eyes the darkness sought in vain, I saw thee, and I longed to soothe thy pain. Sorrow it is not o'erwhelms thee so. But the perfidious touch, that unperceived Thy joy and even thy desire has thieved. Till all at once waking to where thou art / ^/ [/tRioasae»t Jpon thy shuddering heart V ^H 24 THE PRAISE OF LIFE Look in with dreadful faces the calm Hours, Advancing to despoil thee utterly. Thou longest ^iiguL t kicply to be free. But O against thyself didst thou conspire. And hope grown gray and rusting powers Tell thee that vain is thy desire, And counsel thee from all thy care to cease. Proposing to thy fretting sense outworn Vacancy absolute and "utter peace. And is peace empty ? O look forth A V^ i th me wpon the moonlight spread In stillness over the reclining earth. The stillness of a trance profound it seems And a world bright and uninhabited, Yet how immortally, how richly teems ! Hush thy senses, and hark. The silence fills With sounds unnumbered, as the dark With worlds, whose coming not the swiftest sight Affirms, yet in an instant they are bright. Listen, the whole air thrills With gentle and perpetual stir of birth. Softer than sighs, budding and flourishing Upward of each austere or tender thing ; They pine not to haste back under the ground. But to embrace their being and to abound. Send thy thought onward over miles and miles Of silence, till at last it cq^prehend THE PRAISE OF LIFE 25? Faintly, the vastness in which thou hast part, Till the wrought cities melt like shadowy isles Distant in radiance of the endless main, And of its solitude be purged thy heart. All this, dear friend, y ///>?> A thousand thousand spirits, wand^firtg bliss, ^^aO^ '^^ And waves of swelling and subsiding pain Doth this immensity of peace contain. But now, O now, give me no grief to bear, For thou must take my joy; there is no room ^, >^Jij/Yox grie ^tQ>^Bf?gh£i^Qj(>> , lis%^^Q iy ^/ from care/ y r^ VAll ihaiTluvL, I give iliLu — Ht^,the-^uC yi ' f.j "" /Blows dimly to enchanted sense / ^^^ ^^^^^'^>^, Odour and memory, it knows not whence. And our forgetful souls reminds to bloom ! Does thy heart tremble ? I that have not sought Joy, but have found, I bid thee refuse nought. But take the whole world welcome to thy breast. Else in no part possest. The Hours await thee ; ah, they too Love to be loved : woo them and ever woo. Give me thy hand, and farewell : see, I break My branch of heather : this I take • And bear in memory of this night and thee : But keep this by thee, to remember me. 26 THE PRAISE O^ LIFE XI All the night the voices of ocean around my sleep Their murmuring undulation sleepless kept. Rocked in a dream I slept, Till drawn from trances deep At the invocation of morning calling strong, I felt through sanguine eyelids light suffuse My brain, and woke to a wonder of glad hues, And over the trembling choir of birds that throng Among the tamarisk and the glittering dews I heard, O sea, thy song. A charm has lured my feet, and I to the beach dime down, The bright abandoned beach, the curving strand. And stripping upon the sand I meet the salt spray o'er my body blown, Embracing swift the jubilant waves that send Their triumphing surges shouting to the shores around, Until in a rushing splendour senses drowned THE PRAISE OF LIFE 37 The solid earth forgetting, haste to spend Their ever-fresh delight in the glory of swift sound And the thunder withoi^t end. iC, But now from the wave withdrawn in indolent ease Again desire upsprings to know thy heart. I pace by the foam apart Or linger in shadow shy, removed from any breeze. Come, thou hast more to tell, thou hast not done. I will be patient, all day lying in wait to hear ^y Upon the warm rock a»«J ledges hearkening near, pf Of all thy thousand tones to lose not one, > While the shattered surf blows o'er me, leaping clear To the seaward-journeying sun. Radiant, hurrying delight of crests that dance and advance. Careless, arrogant legions, tossing their milky manes ; How the wet light leaps and rains From shivered plumes that melt in a lightning glance And splendour of airy tresses backward blown ! What shouts of exultation, laughter sweet, Wail of vanishing hosts and sighs of defeat / 28 THE PRAISE OF LIFE Irresistible menace and aftguished moan ; A thousand voices mingk in triumph and retreat : But tell me, O sea, thine own ! Surely to happy mirth thou wooest my desire ; Willing is my heart with thy young waves to roam, Lightly tripping foam. Ever laughing nearer, ever dancing higher. Sweeter than all glory, where the spirit wills With heart outpoured in song triumphant as the tide. With eager, open heart, ever to ride and ride ! Yet now at height of joy what tumult fills Thy rushing strength ? A sudden gloom invades thy pride Resisted, an anger thrills. Mutinous indignation that heavy Fate defies, The ignorant rocks that set their sullen jaws. In thy white flames that never pause Rebellious — hy- upleaping, my own heart I recognise. I see the world's embattled towers uplift their height. The wise, distrusting faces of them that trample truth ; I see the bodies slain of hopeless hoping youth j THE PRAISE OF LIFE 29 And dark my heart upswells to the vainly echoing fight, Cries of the helpless, tears of idle ruth, And the wrong I cannot right. Melancholy, to thee must I my vows resign ? The bitterness of my spirit give away To the bitter broken spray ? down-drawn sighing streams, with you repine ? Cover me, heavy waters, that I may hide In darkness, nor behold the ruined flowers sowed Desolately forsaken that so sweetly glowed. Defeated too am I, and languish in my place. And still as glory fades, I bear a heavier load. And the desert spreads apace. Figures of sorrow now in my remembrance stand, 1 see the face of her that her children ask for bread — She turns away her head : The face of him that all day furrows the lonely land; Women that ere the morning to their woe awake ; And him that sightless hears the murmur gaily stream. Knocking weary the pavement that opens not for him. 'i-hf 30 THE PRAISE OF LIFE loud bewailing waves, you tremble as you break, And you lift your dirges wild as you vanish into dream For these and for my sake. But hark! what voice emerges from the lamen- ting choir ? Surely Love is speaking ! My hear/ trembles to ^i hear. A" Now no more I fear, 1 cast my grief behind, I have but one desire ; To give my soul entire, nor to count any cost. To pour my heart in passionate unreason sweet. To follow and to follow with ever faithful feet The steps adored of Love, whatever peril crossed. With bliss or woe extreme/ my longing to com- J/ plete, ^ / In love divinely lost. Sea, was this thy errand ? Ah, but hush ; Again the wild lament, again the strife ! And now in mirth of life ^ Thy waters( gleeful all thtag e overriding rush. Sr O have 1 heard at last ? O now thy voices call / Mingled and sounding clear in a mighty voice as oncy/^ In my heart they mingle that rejecteth none j Sorrow that no longer shall my head appal. THE PRAISE OF LIFE • 31 Love, my sweetest joy ; pain that I fear to shun ; I need, I need them all. Answerer of all my heart, troubled and tender sea, Proud as thy plumes, and like thy ruined foam Faint, and ardent I come. To find my soul, to merge and to be mate of thee. I cast in the sleepless eddy joys and woes. My swiftest sweetest hope, my darkest grief forlorn ; My whole heart I expend, embracing eve and morn: And lo ! in the striving surges trembling glows Toward me, from passionate tumult airily born To beauty/a burning rose. . / 32 ♦ THE PRAISE OF LIFE XII Would'st thou this monster, that we name the world, Who round the envied tree of blissful fruit Lies like a dragon curled In jealous watch, our venture to dispute; Would'st thou that she were smoothly negligent, By any pleader bent, A tender judge, to tears and pity prone. She that on love defeated builds her throne. The spoiler strong, sanguine with our despairs. She that the traitor in us holds in fee, Rich with our woes, with our fears cruel, she Whose easy wisdom the sad heart ensnares ? Rather rejoice that the immortal foe To truceless war our weapons challenges. She hath her task to do, He^ maw to fill, her rages to appease ; Nor less because the noble rebel claims Exemption from her shames. Is of her native harshness justified. Sharp be our swords, trebly our armour tried. Our hearts enduring and relentless be, To look her 'twixt the eyes as conquering men And take her worst of wounds. For then, O then. If we can bear our freedom, we are free. wm