THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ODmar AND A NEW SONNET FORM AND Translated and Edited by (2~^<ko0^e NEW YORK EDWIN S. GORHAM, PUBLISHER 1909 EDITION LIMITED TO TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY COPIES. JUNE 22D, 1909 COPYRIGHT, 1909 BY EDWIN S. GORHAM THE subject matter of the verse herein con tained, representing as it does two wide ly different moods, is taken almost in toto from supposed Ancient American tablet-writings. The first twenty-five sonnets have been Englished into a new, hitherto unused verse-form the Omar sonnet. It consists of three inter-rhymed Omar quatrains and a final couplet. The third verse of the first quatrain (in one case the second verse, No. XXIII) es tablishes the rhyme-note for the second, and so on until the couplet is reached which rhymes with the third verse of the last quatrain and "locks" the whole: a-a-b-a-b-b-c-b-c-c-d-c-d-d, or (as in XXIII) a-b-a-a-b-c-b-b-c-d-c-c-d-d. The editor maintains that this type of sonnet has just as suitable a raison d etre for the expression of certain kinds of thought as the Petrarchian, the Spenserian, and the Shake- sperean types have for other kinds. The tone of this series is, for the most part, pessi- [3] 762907 PREFACE mistic a fact that has led archaeologists to be lieve that at the time of the composition of these writings the Ancient Americans were under going political, economical, or spiritual oppres sion. The modernity of thought gives further noteworthy testimony to the high degree of civilization attained by this people. The second series, consisting of fifty lyrics mostly in the conventional sonnet forms, is very different in tone and content. Here is set forth a part of the love message of a (Maya?) Prince (cir. 8000 B.C.) to one, Lefra, whom he would have made his Princess had not considerations of state forbidden. The inscriptions bearing directly on his affaire du coeur are so frag mentary that authorities have thus far been un able to solve the details of it satisfactorily. This much, however, is certain that the Oriental ardor and sensuousness of the young Prince, as expressed in these sonnets, are such as to rank him among the{ world s greatest lovers,\and ! to corroborate to some extent the theory, that this ancient people and the early Asiatics were closely similar in temperament at least, and that in all [4] PREFACE probability the latter were much indebted to the former for their civilization, popular belief to the contrary notwithstanding. The arrangement of selections in both parts is largely arbitrary. Frequently, however, two in scriptions occurred on the same tablet, one on each side, and this, therefore, cleared up all doubt as to the consecutiveness of pairs of sonnets. In a few cases the sonnet form has not seemed ap propriate for the thought; for instance, No. I of the Lefra Lyrics follows Miss Rossetti s "When I Am Dead, My Dearest" ; and No. XL, Miss Dickinson s "Constant." The editor has shown in a previous work that The Psalms, The Commandments, The Beati tudes, and The Lord s Prayer are, as a rule, son nets in thought, and that they can very easily be made to fit the sonnet form. He believes, further more, that, more frequently than not, the length, form, and content of the average hieroglyph testify strongly to its being "sonnet" in spirit. Whether it was consciously made so or not, is another question and one that deserves further investigation. [5] Otonfrttta PART ONE (Dmar ^ounclB - - p age 1 PART TWO - - p age 39 A LITTLE SLUMBER IN A CRADLE DEEP, A LITTLE CRYING FOR THE MOTHER S HAND, A LITTLE FALLING AS HE TRIES TO CREEP, A LITTLE PRIDE WHEN HE ALONE CAN STAND. A LITTLE PLAYING WITH A PLEASING TOY, A LITTLE BENDING FROM THE DESTINED PLAN, A LITTLE LEARNING FOR HIS FUTURE JOY, A LITTLE LONGING TO BECOME A MAN. A LITTLE DREAMING AT THE EARNEST START, A LITTLE STRIFE AND BATTLE ON THE WAY, A LITTLE WEAKENING OF THE WEARIED HEART, A LITTLE SICKENING AT THE CLOSE OF DAY. A LITTLE COLDNESS AS THE LOVED ONES WEEP, A LITTLE SLUMBER IN A CRADLE DEEP. PART ONE (JDmar mtit*t0 A NEW SONNET FORM THE OMAR SONNETS T HE hand was dealt to you without a care, That you a place should round the table share, And join the players in their merry rout, Not any one of whom can tell you where The wine, the company came from or about; Why some with trumps in happy victory shout, Why some the winning suit possess in vain, Why some by skill and art succeed without. Play thou the game with all thy might and main, From trick and intrigue faithfully refrain; Cool head, true heart, a spirit aptly gay Be thine to guide to joys thou wouldst attain. The cards all out, night lost in morning s gray, Once more the cup and then to sleep for aye ! [II] THE OMAR SONNETS Y II ES, drink the cup with merry laughter round, And let the hall with clinking toast resound, As high is held the genial sparkling wine. Must not a drop within the bowl be found When thou hast wooed the daughter of the vine ; To such degree the vessel must incline That e en the dregs reluctant thou mayst drain, Thy hearty worship show at Bacchus shrine. Then let the goblet, whence thou didst obtain, Fall careless down with loud resounding strain. Wouldst keep it for thy needs to-morrow? Nay, Uncertain is the time thou shalt remain. Drink deeply, fully, ardently, to-day, The holder of thy joy cast thou away ! [12] THE OMAR SONNETS w III HEN comes the time that thou must lay thy head In death upon the pillow that has fed Thy dreams of youth, of boding age thy rest, Have then no thought of past or future dread, But as thou liv dst, e er hoping for the best, Prepared to meet the worst that could infest And satisfied with whatsoever came, So suffer thou the last of this grim jest. Who would not drink the whole cup doth proclaim His thirst s depravity, his spirit s maim. When naught but dregs are in its hold em braced Flinch not with fear s avoidance or with shame, But raise it high, the smallest drop ne er waste, And drain as eager as at first didst taste. [13] THE OMAR SONNETS I IV TARRY at the inn. How long I stay Before the landlord bids me turn away I do not know ; nor can I now recall Quite how I happed my journey to delay Just here and now, for darkness limits all. Yet such seducing lights glow in the hall That I have little care to penetrate The puzzling gloom that was, or is to fall. It matters naught. While at this place I wait Let all its joys my being intoxicate, Let never a guest without full gladness be. For only once can we participate Its merriment and hospitality, To all around, then, drink hilariously ! [14] THE OMAR SONNETS Y OU hurry on and think each fleeting day Or its to-morrow will your ills allay, And bring to you that longed-for happiness Which all are striving for along the way. You always mean to cease the storm and stress, You ever believe He is about to bless, Exhaustion sorely pains your feverish heart, And yet you labor not a whit the less. Now stop, ere death rend soul from clay apart, And meditate your course from conscious start To heedless present, where you stand forlorn ; What has it yielded all the strife, the smart? Ah, if the past has been of profit shorn, What power has the future to adorn! [15] THE OMAR SONNETS A VI ND on, and on, with eagerness we press, Determined to attain to nothing less Than grand Utopia, our constant dream. But when we think to win the dear success And make an effort final and supreme, We find the goal which all so near did seem Is forward gone and left us far behind. Then with renewed exertions and extreme We onward dash, to every hindrance blind, Upon perfection firmly soul and mind Both concentrate to reach the golden meed. Alas, again we look ahead to find The place to which our keen ambitions lead Is Never-Never-Never-Land indeed! [16] A THE OMAR SONNETS VII SINGLE play the gods contrived for thee, Constructed with such wondrous artistry That thou thy part with tragic stride mayst tread, Or strut it thru as boist rous comedy. Preferring both thou mayst perhaps proceed To mix the two thy fated fortune lead Thru ups and downs to its uncertain end, Tho change of mask thy progress sore impede. To me the lines one message only lend, A farce uproarious have the writers penned, Buffoon am I, bent on a merry lark From rise of curtain till it doth descend. Then, when the calcium sheds its final spark, The theatre remains forever dark. [17] THE OMAR SONNETS W VIII HILE gladsome youth with lusty ardor stays And brilliant glows its all seducing blaze, Live to the full. The appetizing wine With joyful toast and bubbling spirits raise. Then while the luscious offspring of the vine Thou dost imbibe, nor up nor down incline Thy questioning eyes, nor glance to either side, But to the cup thy very soul resign. When to the dregs hast brought its teeming tide, Fling carelessly into the chimney wide Where embers now may soft enfold the lees Let death with death eternally abide. On hearth asleep, may retrospect appease The soul which naught in fancied future sees. [18] THE OMAR SONNETS I IX NTELLIGENCE with tantalizing glow Its feeble ray across our path doth throw To guide us in our fragmentary flight As we between the two vast Nothings go. So hard it is to kindle from the Night, So long before it briefly shineth bright, So soon doth ashen ember dark enshroud We hardly see before we lose the light. But fret thou not ; for those who are allowed More radiant beams are dumb to read the cloud Of darkness past, of darkness yet to be. Then let the spark, with which thou art endowed, Its lustre shed, if twill, subjectively, That seeing Self, mayst see Infinity ! [19] THE OMAR SONNETS S O hard it is from our long sleep to wake, So soon again doth slumber overtake, So vexing are the moments animate To nurture hope, unrealized to break ; So very sweet the pre-existent state, And that which eagerly we all await So oppositely filled with torturous pain The dream which cruelly doth separate, That we would gladly yield it and remain In sweet Nirvana undisturbed plane And natural where Peace dwells evermore. We fear no punishment that may obtain, To taunt us after waking or before ; But just the hellish gap do we deplore. [20] THE OMAR SONNETS T XI HEY asked of transcendentalism first, About empiricism they conversed, They pondered long on realism too, With idealism thought to quench their thirst, They basked neath optimism s roseate hue, They deemed the depths of pessimism true, In theism they sought eternal light, Till pantheism dawned upon their view. Yet none of these, no matter how bedight, Could focus clear the philosophic sight. But pragmatism came and cleared the way By compromise, declaring they were right Who lived the life all livingly to-day, And bothered not about remote survey. [21] THE OMAR SONNETS S XII O then the problem of philosophy Was solved by giving up the mystery, And taking as the answer to it all The go-between and question-begging key, This pragmatism, which the wise men call The blossom of the systems great and small, Compounded from those elements in each Which hold eternity itself in thrall. Ah, never can a little "ism" teach, No matter how its advocates may preach, The whither, whence, or how, of this quick clay, And god and man in vain thou mayst beseech. Then quaff the cup, thou shalt not live for aye So be a pragmatist just for to-day. [22] THE OMAR SONNETS T XIII HE ashen fog s impenetrable pall Did sudden o er the trafficked city fall And silence, death-like, grim, and blind, did reign; Yet one, in flowing garments, gaunt and tall, Of studious visage, it could not restrain ; For with a feeble lantern and a cane He thought to light and feel his hidden way. With bold conceit he started off amain And traveled far. But when redawned the day He saw his zigzag wanderings with dismay, His search had ended where it had begun. The stick served naught. The smothered, flicker ing ray Had useless been. The philosophic one Was taught to stay at home and wait the sun. [23] THE OMAR SONNETS T XIV WO travelers, thrust upon the thorny way And left to tramp the brambles as they may, Go forth the one with heavy step and slow, The other with a spirit light and gay. Responsive to the wounds, heart s blood doth flow, Youth s lusty fires to smouldering embers grow, Yet neither be he free or sadly bound May aught about the whence or whither know. The jungle cleared, behold the double mound Where weeds on one spring over and around In many a rank and rankled scraggy shred ; But see upon the other, flower-crowned, How rose and hyacinth and lilac spread A sacrificial solace for the dead. [24] THE OMAR SONNETS T XV* O-DAY is not To-day away from thee, Past, present, future mocking trinity Merge all together, blank and meaningless, When thou art not within heart-sound of me ; And bankruptcy of time brings such excess Of debt by way of bitter loneliness, Thru wealth of misery I make constant moan And pray for thee to balance my distress. Thou with me, Love, then hours and days are known, All Time s deriding passage too well shown By speed that love is powerless to retard, For ere thou com st, it seems that thou hast flown. Tis thou I want, just thou, I disregard The wine, the loaf, the verse of eastern bard. * This sonnet would seem to be better placed with "The Lefra Lyrics." It was, strange to say, found on the same tablet as the preceding one, XIV., and it is thought to be an expression of regard by one of the "travelers" for the other. This may or may not be the case. [25] THE OMAR SONNETS W XVI HAT matters the solution of it all, The wherefore, whence and whither, rise and fall Of life s quick pulse? We ne er can under stand ; Tis here eternal ignorance holds us thrall. Let Science strive with her sharp-witted hand, With patience let Philosophy be scanned, Let Magic and Religion persevere, Instead of problems yielding, they expand. A puzzle by a boy is cherished dear, A game for man has fascinating cheer, You love your friend because he has a trait Not understood, peculiar, yet sincere. Tis only things unknown that can create Pure heart, true love, right faith, achievement great. [26] THE OMAR SONNETS / T XVII O-MORROW" and "To-day" and "Yesterday,"- Time s trinity whose flight no hand can stay Each one of which into the other leads, And from the other makes its constant way. To-day to Yesterday too soon proceeds, To-morrow to To-day as quickly speeds, The hasting panorama glides as tho To mock at contemplated human deeds. Live then To-day : for out of it doth grow Your past and future, unto it yaxc owe Whatever was or will be. ^Time s estate Entire, is now and here To-day. Let no Regrets for Yesterday procrastinate, To-morrow s dawn do not anticipate. THE OMAR SONNETS T XVIII HE man who sees the stars in blackest night And thinks of darkness as excess of light, Who knows the silver lining of the cloud Before its gloom his being can affright, By whom all wrong is stanchly disavowed Because with good tis weighted and endowed, Or claims that ill, if such thing doth exist,- Is fraught with profit, hence it is allowed, This man by men is called an optimist, An accurate and happy theorist, And every preacher of whatever school JDoth place him first upon salvation s list. sages tell with measured words and cool, That he is but a self-deluded fool. [28] THE OMAR SONNETS F XIX ORGOTTEN" and "Forgetting" and "Forget," Three monstrous barks with sails all sternly set For cruising far upon Oblivion s sea, Regardless of Affection waving yet Upon the shore in tearful misery. No bottled message from their wake may be, No cry will come except the sea-gull s caw, The friends have gone the firths sigh dismally. Forgetfulness is nature s surest law: The winter snow forgets the summer thaw, The storm is soon forgotten by the sky, The sun is now forgetting what it saw When last it shone. Yet progress here doth lie, And cheerful hope is born in sad good-bye. [29] THE OMAR SONNETS I J XX MUCH despise such evil times as these, When greed is rabid, getting a disease, V When all opinion is enslaved in gold And man is measured by his power to seize ; When care for culture is considered old, When all the world s best stories have been told, When naught there is neath heaven that is new, When students starve and poets die from cold. Oh, had I lived when hearts were strong and true, When poverty was powerless to subdue, When some few nooks of thought were un explored, When doing not having was the point of view, Then you and I should not have been so bored By seeing all our excellencies ignored ! [30] THE OMAR SONNETS D XXI ECREPIT state, bereft of vigor s prime, Deprived by greed, by ignorance, by crime, And most by smug convention s cheap veneer, Of all that was thine own in former time! Far off Utopia, the vision dear, Behind, before, of every sage sincere, Of Nobca, Topla, Sonreme and Thore,* As sure as truth, must finally appear. Keen evolution will her own restore, Just revolution aid her as before, Until earth s very bowels in vengeance quake ; Then not the dream, but now the heavy snore Of nightmare slumber which will never break Till Socialism blesses it awake. * The names, presumably, of famous seers of the period. THE OMAR SONNETS I XXII F thou wouldst be enslaved and fully bear The burden of a life bestowed unfair, The gift, unasked, which only fools can prize, If thou wouldst take as thy allotted share The cup s whole draught, in which the power lies The heart and soul to bitterly chastise Beyond all human effort to repress, Yet which convention s puppet ever tries : Thy morsel freedom, honor, truth assess, Thy superficiality confess, And altar-ward in clanking chains advance. Then, while assumed "authority" doth bless, Bow low thy head, in shameful cognizance Of weakness, bondage, insignificance ! [32] THE OMAR SONNETS W XXIII HEN I have put aside this mortal clay, A few relations and my gentle friends Will doubtless stand about in sad array And mourn that I have journeyed on my way. If, then, when my real self to peace ascends Tis sensate, surely it will also grieve That man so ill a compliment extends When o er the house in ignorance he bends. / Lament me not when death doth thus relieve My soul of the contaminated dust; Let no funereal fashions so deceive, Do not to candled superstition cleave, But be rejoiced, e en envious if thou must The tenant s better station ne er distrust. [33] THE OMAR SONNETS T XXIV HE open grave, the silence, and the pall, The cold, the sobs, the clodded earth let fall, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," effaced Forever life and heart and love and all ! Was rendered service then a mocking waste ? Was faith in God and Heaven thru her misplaced ? Was any solace born of sentiment, But hard reality had now erased ? Perhaps he had not given to earth, but lent, Just as a seed which, sown, reclines content, Till resurrection brings the fuller day, His own will come again by angels sent ? If aught the grief e en briefly can allay, Then tell him not that death deprives for aye. [34] THE OMAR SONNETS F XXV EAR death? Love life? Were not you, crying, born? When animation from the clay is shorn And little minds and harrowed hearts ag grieve, Does not a smile the pallid face adorn ? Arrived unwilling, glad when time to leave, These signs, arightly read, cannot deceive, And yet we misinterpret purposely, With joy and grief our fickle bosoms heave. Love death! Hate life! The one, tranquility, Insensate, irresponsible, and free; The other, turmoil, howsoever blest Or glossed or charmed the spell may seem to be. Imposed, not chosen, life s ungrateful quest, Desired the things that men pursue with zest. [35] PART TWO 3jjrir0 I HAVE THE GREATEST NAVY MANKIND HAS EVER KNOWN, IT SAILS THE OCEAN WAVY THRU EVERY EARTHLY ZONE. II MY SQUADRONS ALL UNITED, WITH COLORS FULL UNFURLED, WOULD NEED BUT TO BE SIGHTED To TERRORIZE THE WORLD : III THE "HARDSHIP" is A GREYHOUND INVULNERABLY STEELED, THE "WORSHIP" WATCHES, SPRAY-CROWNED, "APPRENTICE-SHIP" TO SHIELD: IV THERE S "FELLOWSHIP" AND "FRIENDSHIP," AND " WORKMANSHIP "AND MORE, To NAME ALL, TO THE END SHIP, UNDOUBTEDLY WOULD BORE. BUT THE FLAGS OF ALL ABOVE DIP TO ONE WITH GLORY FRAUGHT, THE INDOMITABLE " LOVE-SHIP," MY DOUGHTY FLEET S DREADNAUGHT. THE LEFRA LYRICS W ORDS have a way, my dearest, Of telling everything : There s naught of joy or sadness Their power cannot bring. They seem of every passion To be the master key, O er solace and o er trouble They hold authority. The hearts of all they open, Each secret seem to know, The gamut of emotion From end to end they go. But here, by single impotence Behold, they ring untrue, They cannot tell, my dearest, My fervent love for you. [39] THE LEFRA LYRICS D II AY after day with patience I had sought Deliverance from this plight with sorrow wrought, And oft I prayed, that Thanatos might end The ills with which my questioning soul was fraught. All Science, all Philosophy had penned, All that Religion from her tomes could lend, Brought only increase of chaotic blight. Despondent then, I found thee, v Heaven-sent friend, And scaled with thee Love s lofty mountain height. Its topmost peak we gained, and viewed the sight Of valleys, down the dangerous depths below, Whose darks, all labyrinthed, now fail to fright. Altho the mysteries neither of us know, We care no more, for Love will have it so. [40] THE LEFRA LYRICS III OWN on the shore where the waters moan Often I listen and long alone, But the only message I hear them say Is, "Lefra is wishing for you to-day." ii Up on the hills where the lilies blow Frequent I tarry their tale to know, But the only story the flowers tell Is, "Lefra is loving you now right well." in Out in the woods where the world is still Slowly I linger to know its will, But the only answer the silence gives Is, "Lefra for you and your love now lives." IV O, vain imaginings all are these Of speechless ocean and flowers and trees: Nor heaven nor earth a joy can show Till from Lefra alone the truth I know ! [41] THE LEFRA LYRICS P IV OOR weakling words, my Dear, can never tell How much of heart and soul I have for you, How great the love, how fervent, and how true: But yet forgive if once again I dwell Upon that passion underneath whose spell I am enslaved, whose power doth subdue And hold me bound in being thru and thru To you whom I love wisely and love well : I love you, love you, love you, love you, Dear, Beyond all kith and kin, both far and near, Than life in earth or heaven more sincere, Than loved ones passed into angelic sphere, Beyond great God Himself do I revere The love I love you with, my Love, my Dear. [42] THE LEFRA LYRICS I F thou couldst know with what entirety I am unto thy life and being consigned, Or couldst but feel with telepathic mind What I in mine do constant hold for thee, The inner workings of my heart couldst see, What message in my soul is clear defined . And were such knowledge mutually en shrined, Ah, then could I to death go peacefully ! Thou canst not know, my passion is too deep. And I can never learn what is not taught By look, by word, by action, or by thought. So be it, Love, but let me ever try With feeble tongue, until my final sleep, To approximate what naught can specify. [43] THE LEFRA LYRICS H VI OW do I love thee? What a passion swells Within this homely, unregenerate breast For thee, and all that is made manifest Within thy being? No crippled writing tells To what a depth of love thy soul impels My higher ego, nor can be expressed In other way; nor silence can attest What far beyond small mortal power dwells. Twould be a joy to kiss thy garment s hem, Thou willing. To kiss thine own self-prof fered hand, A bliss, a happiness beyond command ! But if, perchance, at some great moment I Might kiss thy lips by leave or stratagem I then, my Love, with ecstasy should die ! [44] THE LEFRA LYRICS M VII Y Lefra dear, I love thee every day With deeper love than e er I loved before, Each hour, each moment, every second s sway But adds increase beyond all reckoned store. I love thee every instant more and more, My life, my heart, my soul for thee vibrate ; But tho I tell my passion o er and o er Thou dost not know I cannot full relate. O troublous world, that wilt not consecrate This love divine, but rather wouldst restrain, Why didst thou then this happiness create For which all strive, to which none may attain ! If such an one as Lefra thou couldst know More happiness thou wouldst mete out than woe. [45] THE LEFRA LYRICS H VIII OW much I love thee, Love, I would that I By art or look or utterance might tell, Or by some flight of superhuman spell Of heart and soul to thee, Dear, signify That love which takes my life nor lets me die; The kiss, th embrace, the fondling thou know st well, What e er effusive sign thou dost impel, Are shallow to the depths they do imply. O that some poet of the golden age, Who thought he sang a passion absolute, Were with us now, t attune his feeble flute To our sweet love, and all his powers engage. His rapturous song could but an echo be Of that which binds us for eternity. [46] THE LEFRA LYRICS T IX HE blest assurance that thou lovest me Is all of life itself and more beside, Its every phase upon the circle wide Is brightened by that great love s certainty. The Moving Finger no more tauntingly Obscures the way, a blind and baffling guide, But clear around the purpose is descried, Thou cam st for me and I, my Love, for thee. Thru fog and clod and vegetive we came To human, where we touched but to bestow Each unto each perfection s deepest glow. And when again we re called upon to go The cycle round, our former states we ll shame Because we did a love divine proclaim. [47] THE LEFRA LYRICS B X 1UT yesterday I kissed thy hand, Beheld thy radiant eyes, I kissed thy lips, made to command My soul until its rise; I heard thy softly spoken word Of sweetly patient love, And felt the throb thy heart conferred From worshipped heights above. ii To-day thy hand is vanished, Thine eyes are closed to me, Thy sacred lips commanding red No longer do I see ; More painful yet thy voice is still Which I so long to hear, But O, to-day, the mutual thrill Of heart is quite as clear! [48] THE LEFRA LYRICS M XI Y love for thee, my Love, what can it do? Nay, ask me not, for if thou canst bestow E en small return for its contagious glow, Its potency to some degree dost know. Immeasurable its depth, its power too Is far beyond all reckoning here below ; Yet since twill e er by course presumptuous go, It striveth now its little deeds to show : It gives me hope, it gives me comfort dear, And bliss and joy within a world of pain, It gives me safety, every outward gain, It moulds my clay to a completer whole ; But when this flesh is done its brief career, My love for thee, my Love, will save my soul ! [49] THE LEFRA LYRICS T XII O be with thee, my Love, to be with thee Is all that I, below, above, desire, For earth gives naught of happiness that s higher, And heaven can hold no greater joy for me. The weekly hour within thy company Seems like a portioned second to transpire, To be with thee enough it would require Indefinite lengthening of eternity. Naught is there real except the now and here, Tho otherwise idealists may dream, Thy absence negatives thy being dear And thou to me dost non-existent seem. But present, Love! God only can see clear My rapturous bliss, my ecstasy supreme ! [50] THE LEFRA LYRICS I XIII WOULD that I had power to express The fervent love which unto thee I bear, E en to unfold by pen or tongue a share Of that store which my charged heart doth possess Would be a boon whose comfort none can guess. For dumb to tell, unable to declare Its depth and strength, how canst thou be aware And with a full return thy lover bless ? The faith without which no true love can be Perhaps a means in my soul can create Whereby the passion it can full translate To thine. Then while the happy message goes, Gaze thou into my eyes that I may see That thou dost understand what I disclose. [51] THE LEFRA LYRICS F XIV OR such a love, my Love, as thine and mine This cold world seems to lack in charity, Since it affords so meagre a degree Of sweet communion at our friendship s shrine : When each with each a presence felt divine How full we live, how dear the privacy Of soul with soul ! Yet never can it be Except at moments stolen by design. But wretchedness has ever hovered round All loves supreme, which, strangers on the earth, In highest heaven have had their sacred birth. O let s revolt and flee convention s sphere, Nor wait a paradise in doubt renowned, If love s from heaven, then heaven, my Love, is here! [52] THE LEFRA LYRICS M XV Y love for thee, my Love, was never born, For had it been twould surely come to death, Twould then have lived a hollow, transient breath, But it arose with Earth on that great morn When she anew was to her cycle sworn. Eternal as herself it lingereth, An everlasting Yea to me it saith, And living ever, never is outworn. But thou didst touch the hidden glow to flame, As none but thee could e er have done beside, During all its search adown Time s telling tide. And it has burned so deeply in thy soul, That when we journey on from whence we came Our friended love shall light the circle whole. [53] THE LEFRA LYRICS F XVI OR all the world, my Love, I would not give The sweetness of the friendship sealed with thee, Tis that alone hath taught me how to live, And saved me from a death-despondency. The faith, the trust, the glad security, The dear caress, the tender glance of eye Are joys too rare for one in chains like me ; Yet were they fractioned, I should surely die. My love, which tears embalm and sanctify, Can ne er be measured in the narrowed flesh : But spite of that, be patient if I try At every hour to reckon it afresh, For I have learned thru this undying love That heaven is here with thee, and not above ! [54] THE LEFRA LYRICS T XVII HE waves are rolling high, Love, Along the fretted shore: They swish and surge and sigh, Love, And threaten evermore As they approach so nigh, Love, With ever deafening roar. II But I have naught to fear, Love, Since I am sure of thee, Tho on a watery bier, Love, I m carried out to sea, I shall not shed a tear, Love, My comfort strong shall be : That as I love thee dear, Love, So also thou lov st me. [55] THE LEFRA LYRICS I XVIII LOVE thee, love thee, love thee, O my child, With all my bleeding heart and sighing soul, With more than all my being, past control, With strengthless strengthened passion, undefiled. I know not what the charm that hath beguiled Me from myself, I only know it stole Into me with the purpose to make whole What formerly had been with fault reviled. Perhaps the Potter molding well thy clay, In apprehension lest his ideal fail, A remnant dropped from which he fashioned me. What difference whence arose the flaming ray ? Suffice it now that it doth strong prevail, That I adore, and love, and worship thee ! [56] THE LEFRA LYRICS I XIX LONG for those grand golden days of yore When you and I in sweet simplicity Enjoyed alone our love s felicity, Those golden days I ne er had known before, Those golden days, which, past forevermore, Yet gave to us midst Laed,* tranquility, Conception of our love s nobility By mutual message spoken o er and o er. Ah, would that those Elysian days had stayed, That Time just then and there had ceased its round, Or had eternalized the heaven we found. Too poor this world for love s supremacy, It gives a moment s bliss oft long delayed, Then leaves the rest to stammering memory. * The name, perhaps, of a sometime famous pyramid in Central America. [57] THE LEFRA LYRICS 1 XX NEVER knew myself till I knew you, And felt the comfort of the love divine, E en knowledge small of men was never mine Until your heart I had tried thru and thru. I never saw within this world a hue Of partial light till that love gan to shine, Whose rays of constant brilliancy define What darkness threatened once e er to subdue. O love me better, Love, as I love you, And every day announce the growing sign : Take thou my soul as I have taken thine, Be thou to me than god to god more true, For then eternity shall not dissever, And friendship s love of loves be broken never ! [58] THE LEFRA LYRICS I XXI WOULD that I might overlive again Long past good times that I have spent with thee: Of all my life that has not been in vain, Valued they stand as hours lived worthily. Entire the bliss that they presented me, / Love then engrossed^niy mind^my heart/my soul, Ejected reason from that trinity, , Forced full possession gainst my poor control. Delightful twas to have my being whole Enraptured by such loveliness as thine : Ah, yes ! But now, all o er, who will condole Remorse, dejection, woe, neath which I pine? Life is but love ; love, life ; and thou, my own, Thou gav st me all that I have ever known. [59] THE LEFRA LYRICS I XXII LOVE thee truly, Lefra, as before Long messages to thee have certified. Of all avowals sworn thee o er and o er Vain are mere words expression to provide. E en for the half of love I have in store, The hope that aught may by thee be implied Has spurred me on to sing to thee once more Excess of love which doth in me abide. Emblazoned on my heart and on my soul Thy image ever vivid do I wear. Run riotous my love, past all control, Unto thee doth its current strong repair. Lashed by its force, upon unwelcome shoal Yet shall I die, or in the whirlpool s snare. [60] THE LEFRA LYRICS T XXIII i HERE S a road to heaven, a road to hell, A road for the sick and one for the well, There s a road for the false and a road for the true, But the road for me is the road to you. II There s a road thru prairie and forest and glen, A road to each place in human ken, There s a road over earth and a road over sea, But the road to you is the road for me. in There s a road for animal, bird and beast, A road for the greatest, a road for the least, There s a road that is old and a road that is new, But the road for me is the road to you. IV There s a road for the heart and a road for the soul, There s a road for a part and a road for the whole, There s a road for love which few ever see Tis the road to you and the road for me. [61] THE LEFRA LYRICS M XXIV AN says he loves. Yet ever does he hide The demonstration of the flame divine, Nor suffers it in secrecy to shine ; He rather would that it should not abide, That all its sweet expression be denied, Than of its holiness display one sign : Ah, can we then be sure he has the fine, Deep love by which all being is sanctified? He does not know the passion strong and true, Real love cannot be smothered in the breast, It must unto its object be expressed. O haste the day when man shall make his Life At one with Love, which he doth now subdue, For not till then shall cease his earthly strife. [62] THE LEFRA LYRICS I XXV N fetters blind and darkly did he grope His passage thru the thorn-entangled way, His heart and soul the spines did scar and flay, There dwelt within a spirit lacking hope. It seemed that he the fated path could cope No longer, courage failed, and in dismay He thought to end his woe-begotten day, When lo! adown the course s tangled scope He caught a light which lured the crisis past : Its constant beam denied that twas decoy, So on he sped to ascertain its joy, Nor knew the obstacles that stayed before. Unconscious striving brought him where at last He basks beneath the flame forevermore ! [63] THE LEFRA LYRICS L XXVI ET absence long and distance far ne er cast Extremest love into oblivion s mold, Fuse ruin in the memory of the past, Enriched with warmth all powerless to grow cold. With firm resolve to fix our friendship fast, So clearly in thy spirit s vision hold Entire reflection of me that at last Mayst see me true as when farewells were told. A picture have I, Love, so real of thee No blight of brain could cause its light to fade, Not Death itself could dark its brilliancy ; Glad in the skill with which Love hath por trayed Blest friendship s likeness, unto thee and me, Of all eternity be not afraid. [64] THE LEFRA LYRICS E XXVII XTREME the beauty of the sonnet form With which inadequate I frame thy praise, Supreme the pattern wherein passion s storm Exceeds no further than the narrowed phrase Most used for love, that gleam of other days, Cadenced by Etnad, Resneps,* and the rest: No Muse s light can quite outshine its rays, No soul s deep thrill but finds its voice the best. O lover mine, of holy charm possessed, Prostrate in worship all who know thee lie, Divinity of soul in flesh expressed, Thou pict rest forth what sonnets specify. King Heart, King Soul, King Being, thou wert so blest, Example for this stanza to supply ! * The names, most likely, of contemporary poets. [65] THE LEFRA LYRICS L XXVIII OVE makes us brute and angel, both in one, Excess of misery and of joy it brings, For of all passions which the poet sings Ill-selfishness is bred so soon in none. Long do we strive, when love has once begun, Our object to possess, but then all things Voice mockingly the unrequited stings, Enticed by sweets, by woes to be undone. Yet twas worth while to know the fleeting bliss Of loving such as thee, for I was given Untold, if brief, delights of highest heaven, Joyed, purified by thy life-giving kiss. But pity tis, love leaves not permanent Of these two states, th angelic element. [66] THE LEFRA LYRICS U XXIX NIQUE the one we designate as friend : No word so accurate that its use can tell The excellencies which in his being blend. Of all encomiums which in language dwell, Yet never one sufficiently can lend Opinion of his goodness full and well, Unlock the hoard with justice to commend, Let all behold how virtues can excel. Endowed with worth which cannot be defined, Of every common merit too possessed, Most heightened being gods e er origined, In this thy subtle value is expressed, New holy thought for my congenial mind, Eternity s great dower made manifest. [67] THE LEFRA LYRICS E XXX* NDOW me now, O thou most gracious Muse, In whom, thru whom, by whom love is ex pressed. As richly let my pen be now possessed E en as my passion doth my heart infuse. More now than e er before my poor tongue sues, As I invoke with all surpassing zest Anew to bless the love before confessed, O, now, thy eloquence pray let me use : Protect this one, ye gods, from every woe, Desert him never in his hour of need, Yield to him every wish that life can speed, Confer on him of good an overflow, Keep him near Love s undying heart for aye, Enrich his path with joy from day to day. * This sonnet, In which the masculine form of the per sonal pronoun occurs, is one of the few supposed to have been written by Lefra to her Prince. [68] THE LEFRA LYRICS T XXXI say, I love thee, Lef ra dear, Is putting it too mildly, 1 honor, idolize, revere, Adore, and worship wildly Each atom in thy microcosmic sphere. ii Thou art my being, my heart, my soul, Thou art my life s salvation, Of my small part thou art the whole, My better incarnation, My God, myself art thou whom I extol 1 [69] THE LEFRA LYRICS T XXXII HY honeyed lips intoxicating sweets How often do I long to taste again ! O that I had those dear delicious treats Usurped for e er when once I did obtain ! A life elixir in their nectar dwells, Reviving him on whom thou dost bestow The joy of knowing all their flavor tells, More fully than aught else that earth can show. Yet then, O spare for me each sugared kiss Housed in those sweet, seductive lips of thine ; E en grant me, Love, such ecstasy of bliss, A right exclusive to these doors be mine. Reserve for me each atom saccharine The gods have placed these tinted pearls between. [70] THE LEFRA LYRICS T XXXIII kiss thy lips, to kiss thy lips, my Dear, Inbreathing all the ardor of thy soul, Succeeding each to each, so oft, so near, All seem united in one luscious whole : Love labels they on which the sweets enscroll Long messages which are not formed to hear, Instead they silently transfer their toll, Long lingering to convey it full and clear. 1 long to kiss them now and now and now : Vouchsafe to me the privilege, I pray. Each drop of blood in their transparent clay For me with tingling passion, Love, endow. O may our heaven, Love, mean only this : Red lips to lips in one eternal kiss ! THE LEFRA LYRICS J XXXIV UST give me all, Thy body, mind, and soul, Assure me of thy mercy, pity, love, Acquaint me that thy heart, entire and whole, Keeps beating for me with the surety of Both life and death in tender constancy; Of all the kisses that those lips possess Preserve each one in chastity for me, Deliver all in endless, sweet caress ; Yet let me too within thy spirit s glow See all the radiance of its sacred light, Kind glances from rare eye-stars let me know, Entrance me still as smile and touch unite. Let me be blessed with such possessions fair, Excess of wealth and joy shall be my share. [72] THE LEFRA LYRICS A XXXV H, Love, to kiss the roses from thy lips, To drink the dewy nectar they contain, To linger there and lengthen all the sips As if unto the very dregs to drain, To raise on high thy dainty finger tips, Rewarding each a million times again Till every one with deep affection drips, Ah, Love, that were a heaven I would gain ! Pray tell why I must from these sweets refrain ? By God thou wert with such a store endowed, And to the store such quality allowed, I could not rob thee e en if thou wouldst deign; Nor would there be upon thee any stain, So please, oh, please, remove thy high disdain. [73] THE LEFRA LYRICS I XXXVI I THINK I must have wished at birth That death might be delayed Until I found upon this earth A love that would not fade. ii But now that I its beauty know, I still desire that Death May further leniency bestow Till I with living breath May hear my Love speak out the word That I so long to hear, Till to my Love I have averred My passion full and clear, in Till I have held that heart to mine In holy ecstasy : The whole of life that is divine Will then be given me, And Death may come, I will recline Upon his bosom peacefully. [74] THE LEFRA LYRICS I XXXVII LOVE thee, Lefra ! Hast thou heard before? Or hath the holy truth by thee been guessed ? Ah, yes, I know : I ve told thee o er and o er, Yet believe me, never yet have I expressed One billionth of half its brimming store. And I am of true happiness possessed, That thou dost not disdainfully ignore What is to thee by worthier ones professed. But still my state of joy is incomplete Because thou dost not love me as I would That thou shouldst do. Tis futile, well I know, A being made to be loved, to entreat To love. So let my love be understood Within thy mind, perchance thy heart may grow. [75] THE LEFRA LYRICS I XXXVIII F thou couldst love me, Lefra, as I thee And wouldst vouchsafe the sweet felicity Of telling that great feeling unto me, I then should know eternal ecstasy. E en if thou couldst with thy too small degree Of love for me, far more effusive be, The fond caress love s language let me see, To death I should lie down exultingly! But how can such an one as I expect A queen to condescend and me select For friend and lover, and as such protect? Nay, nay, my passion must itself subject To proper plane, tho hard tis to effect, And kiss the robes wherewith thy feet are decked. [76] THE LEFRA LYRICS C XXXIX OME thou to me and let me be assured That, spite of absence and its burning pain, Thy love for me and mine hath still endured, Thy soul and mine have not been sundered twain. Come thou to me, that friendship be secured ; Unbridge the hellish distance in thy train, That thou mayst nevermore from me be lured For sake of joy, of blood, of earthly gain. Come thou to me forever to remain : Locked soul in soul, my Love, and heart in heart Yet once again, shall Death itself ne er part When we to that reality attain. But come, my Love, O come with passion s speed On highest gust of welcome thou wilt feed ! [77] THE LEFRA LYRICS T XL IRE of you, my Dearest? Not until the sun Which thou never fearest Ceases in its run. ii Change, Dear, for another? Not until the maid, Now a virgin mother, Feels her child-love fade. in Surfeit of the love-feast Long I ve held with you? When have skies above ceased Smiling down their blue ! [78] THE LEFRA LYRICS H XLI OW sadly do I rue that sorry day When thou thy love shall to another plight : Then shall my sun of life by darkest night Be full obscured for rays sent otherway. Let s trust that Death in pity may convey My grieving soul upon its upward flight, Ere thou its loving tenderness dost smite By robbing it of what elsewhere must pay. And yet, my Love, with thy well-molded clay And perfect soul, thine is the sacred right To duplicate thy being for the delight Of human kind in its diseased decay. First I shall go and with the gods make plea, That thy dear offspring shall be like to thee ! [79] THE LEFRA LYRICS O XLII JUST to feel the pressure of thy hand, To see again the faithful beaming eye, Once more to hear, ere from this grief I die, Those lips give out the word I understand. Thy head whose waving glory I have scanned, O once again to fondle it, I cry ! Come, come to me and quell this gnawing sigh, Dear heart of hearts, for God our friendship planned. But, cursed the circumstance and damned the world, That caused our souls to touch in ecstasy, And yet ordained that we should parted be ! Unbearable each hour deprived of thee, Impertinent all toil between us hurled, Absence from thee is hell s eternity ! [80] THE LEFRA LYRICS XLIII EMEMBER, Love, when I am far away, When continents or oceans coldly sever, When Death s sure hand has silenced me forever, Remember, Love, what oft you ve heard me say. And when my soul has left this troubled clay, Ah, then, my dear one, lose from memory never The golden truth which that soul did endeavor To imprint upon thy soul in happier day. And if thou canst, when that sad separation The desuetude of friendship has made sure, By some forced telepathic operation Send me a thought, e en tho it be obscure, O let it be this living love vibration : "I ne er forget, my Love, thy words endure !" [81] THE LEFRA LYRICS W XLIV HAT matters it? Can aught of joy prevail Or peace for those upon this planet born, Which was itself from Sol unconscious torn ? What general cause adventured but must fail? What truth so loudly sung but error s wail Can bear it down ? What beauty is not shorn By fate ere it can half its world adorn? What hope in life that death doth not assail? What matters it ? Oh, why then should I moan Because my love doth unrequited lie? It too must with the other blessings die And leave its victim saddened and alone. Cursed be the power that sets my being astir For love of such a kind as I confer. [82] THE LEFRA LYRICS I XLV LOVE my Love despite the cursed fate That doth forbid that fervent love s return, That makes my Love forever seem to spurn The passion deep and true and consecrate With which I knock at his heart s door and wait ; And which doth with such awful gnawing yearn For answer. Oh, that my poor soul could learn The lesson which the waitings indicate ! Let sages talk of unrequited love Its comforts, blessings, and its noble heights All these are but mad philosophic flights ! To love without response is tragedy, Which nor in earth below nor heaven above Can rend the heart of man so awfully. [83] THE LEFRA LYRICS W XLVI HEN I am near to thee, my Love, and feel Thy living, breathing presence near to me, Ah, then, unspeakable felicity, What higher light does soul to soul reveal ! Then silence fails a single thought to steal That is not known ere it can uttered be ; When I am near to thee, my Love, from thee The quietest heart-throb I could ne er conceal. Since such the state our souls in union know, And such the bliss their sacred converse brings, Should not the power, whence came the love, bestow The privilege of remaining ever so? O, bitterest of all bitter earthly things, Thy absence and its awful sufferings ! [84] THE LEFRA LYRICS F XLVII ORGIVE me, Love, if often I complain And sound within thy ear my bitter wail, Know thou that I full gladly would refrain Were I assured thy love would e er prevail. Altho unkind suspicion is the bane Which friendship s golden flower doth assail, I yet doubt on, unable to restrain The feeling that my suit to thee must fail. For I am small, and thou art far too great With love sincere to condescend to me ; Or else thou dost a manner new create Concealing that which I so long to see. And so I do deplore my saddened fate, For what is ne er expressed can never be. [85] THE LEFRA LYRICS A XLVIII MIND have I, my Love, that every day Makes woful whimpering theme to me that thou, Of all fair mortals, never can convey A love to me such as I long for now. More vehemently to me doth it say : A fool art thou such passion strong to vow, Remembering that she ne er in little way Invests return, nor welcome doth allow. A heart have I, my Love, that every hour Lets refutation to such argument Enter my mind with full convincing power. Out upon prudence when great love is sent ! Ne er heed the mind, tho it with wisdom tower, Enough to find the heart s divine content ! [86] THE LEFRA LYRICS E XLIX EN tho thou hast forgotten me so soon, For thy brief love I m better than before, My sad, discordant heart thou didst attune And left a harmony forevermore. My soul is nobler since it hath touched thine And felt the rhythmic oneness of the two, Thy love endures, tho calmly doth entwine And feebler grows, since thou canst not renew. But love that s given disproportionate, From higher unto lower, cannot stay, Tis cruel of me then to bewail my fate When such as thine finds out a loftier way. My hope is here : that thou for whom I yearn, When I have found thy heights, wilt then return. [87] THE LEFRA LYRICS M Y love for thee, my Love, is so confounding, My fevered soul so violently is thrilled, The speech of my affection so abounding, My former troubled heart with love so filled, The universe itself, now so redounding With what to me before was never willed, That all my being is constantly propounding New pleasant hopes of life by love instilled. I hope for times beyond my mind s conceiving, When you and I shall ne er divided be, I hope for love from you beyond believing Made evident by word and act to me, I hope our hearts full union are achieving, But ah, my Love, I hope all hopelessly ! [88] A LOT OF STRIFE TO KEEP FROM ASKING WHY? A LOT OF HOPE TO HOLD US TO OUR WAY, A LOT OF FAITH TO LEAD US TO OBEY, A LOT OF LOVE TO TEACH US BUT TO SIGH; A LOT OF GRIEF AS LIFE IS PASSING BY, A LOT OF JOY THE SORROW TO ALLAY, A LOT OF WORK TO INTERSPERSE THE PLAY, A LOT OF GOOD WITH WICKEDNESS TO VIE; A LOT OF THOUGHT AS OLD AGE DRAWETH NIGH, A LOT OF ERROR SEEN IN THE SURVEY, A LOT OF WOE BECAUSE OF WASTED DAY, A LOT OF PREPARATION, THEN, TO DIE ! A LOT OF TEARS SHED OVER WAYWARD CLAY, A LOT OF EARTH SIX FEET BY TWO FOR AYE ! UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. JAN 2 1957 . MAY 24 1957 RK O I NlM O 4 Form L9-100m-9. 52(A3105)444 THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY CF CAI?fFCmNU m f\f\f\ " "" * * l l HI