LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIfORNIA y 
 
THE MARRIAGE OF THE SOUL. 
 
THE MARRIAGE OF THE SOUL 
 AND OTHER POEMS 
 
 BY 
 
 W. SCOTT-ELLIOT 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 "PROBLEMS OF THE HIDDEN LIFE " 
 
 LONDON 
 
 KEGJN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER <S^' CO., LTD. 
 
 MDCCCXCII 
 
LOAN STACK 
 
MAtAJ 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 One word to record the satisfaction with which was 
 written the poem that gives its name to this tiny volume. 
 
 To have found utterance^ inadequate though it he^for 
 the rapture and for the anguish in sounding the shoals and 
 the depths of desire — phases which with a fascinated but 
 questioning doubt alternately dominated the day-dreams 
 of the boy — is some sort of recompense for the trials whose 
 record is attempted — trials of a life that has not been 
 entirely uneventful^ though the events were not those which 
 have appeared upon the surface. 
 
 530 
 
vi Preface, 
 
 It was something more to have been empowered to express 
 in language^ however unworthy of the surpassing grandeur 
 of the subject^ the thoughts which have appealed to the 
 writer as the very sum and substance of that divine 
 philosophy^ which seems to be the one thing capable of 
 redeeming humanity from the abyss of materialism in 
 which the priests of religion and science alike have 
 sunk it. 
 
 This is indeed a reward that no sorrows or troubles 
 that life may yet have in store will be able entirely to 
 efface. 
 
 It may be too that the poetic expression of deep spiritual 
 truth may find an echo in the hearts of those who are 
 unable to recognize it in a more prosaic aspect. 
 
Preface, vii 
 
 But to mm up the feelings with which this poem [for 
 most of the others are scarcely worth mentioning) is offered 
 to the public^ and also as a protest against the tendency of 
 an increasing desire for personal reward and popularity^ 
 which seems latterly to have more and more pervaded the 
 social and the political arena of this mighty race andempire^ 
 whose leaders should be the leaders of the world^ I recall 
 with admiration and with fellow-feeling the expressions 
 in which Bulwer Lytton dedicated to the sculptor Gibson 
 " the well loved work of his matured manhood J** 
 
 Like it this makes no appeal to the suffrage of the 
 multitude, educated and cultured though the multitude now 
 are. It is not meant for them — they are not ready for it. 
 Whether it meets or not with the approval of the Few^ 
 
viii ^ Preface, 
 
 it will still remain a record of that hidden life which the 
 world can neither give nor take away. 
 
 To the writer to whom it recalls " the solemn and pure 
 delight which it gave him to conceive and to perform *' 
 and who sees in it the aspiration of his *' innermost mind 
 in its least clouded moments ^^ it would have been of equal 
 import had he ^^ graven it on the rocks of a desert.*^ 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAG£ 
 
 EWESDALE . I 
 
 To Desire 5 
 
 On My Lady's Beauty 15 
 
 Trishna 22 
 
 To THE Unknown Goddess 26 
 
 A Stoic's Song 28 
 
 Union 32 
 
 The Marriage of the Soul 35 
 
 A Lover's Rhapsody 52' 
 
EWESDALE. 
 
 Once more in the sweet summer weather, 
 With sunshine and soft falling dews, 
 
 Where the murmur of bees in the heather 
 Entrances the valley of Ewes. 
 
 Colombo had sunset of glory, 
 
 Gold melting in flakes of sea-green ; 
 
 St. Lawrence still plunges in story 
 His sweet wooded islands between. 
 B 
 
^he Marriage of the SouL 
 
 On the slopes of the Nikko hills dreaming. 
 Charm subtle possesses the mind, 
 
 With the trunks of the mighty trees gleaming 
 The gem-bedecked temples behind. 
 
 Snow-capped are the Yellowstone mountains 
 In the wild rocky land of the West, 
 
 Delighful its canon and fountains, 
 But home after all is the best. 
 
 Here thrushes each bush and tree christen 
 With tumult of passionate trills ; 
 
 Lie down in the bracken and listen 
 To lispings of musical rills. 
 
Ewesdale, 
 
 Mount up the burn, fountain by fountain, 
 Till heather is mixed with the sod, 
 
 To the far rocky cove on the mountain 
 Where whispers the silence of God. 
 
 Green valley and soft flowing rivers 
 
 May the elves and the water-nymphs make 
 
 You sweet for our children, the givers 
 Of bliss that has yet to awake. 
 
 Remembrance may still come to gladden 
 
 With visions of loveliness seen, 
 Though visions that more than half sadden, 
 
 Far off in the days that have been. 
 
The Marriage of the Soul. 
 
 Great sights may be pictured in story, 
 
 Snowy peak, coloured woods of the " fall," 
 
 The fields of the sky full of glory 
 Arc fancy*s chief playground of all. 
 
 But the sight that to peace shall restore us 
 Is one seen by all that draw breath, 
 
 For the last is the great sight before us, 
 The presence majestic of Death. 
 
 Arkleton. 
 
TO DESIRE. 
 
 Lines suggested by Sir Philip Sidney's sonnet. 
 " nou blind man's mark, thoufooPs self-chosen snare^ 
 Fond fancy's scum, and dregs of scattered thought^ 
 Band of all evils, cradle of causeless care^ 
 Thou web of will whose end is never wrought^ 
 Desire^ desire, I have too dearly bought 
 With price of mangled mind thy worthless ware, 
 Too long^ too long asleep thou hast me brought 
 Who should 'st my mind to higher things prepare. - 
 
The Marriage of the Soul. 
 
 But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought^ 
 In vain thou mad'st me to vain things aspire^ 
 In vain thou light edst all thy smoky fire^ 
 For virtue has this better lesson taught : 
 Within myself to seek my only hire^ 
 Desiring naught hut how to kill desire, ^^ 
 
 O King of Humanity blinded, 
 O tyrant who needest no rod, 
 
 To laud thee are all of us minded. 
 Deep down in our souls thou art God. 
 
 Thy signs never leave or forsake us. 
 Thy fetters we hug to our hurt, 
 
Ti Desire, 
 
 The wisdom of Zeus cannot make us 
 Thy dens of illusion desert. 
 
 Whence art thou ? Who gave thee dominion 
 O'er the most hidden gates of our life, 
 
 That each should bow down as thy minion 
 Till death comes to finish the strife ? 
 
 Thy shrine is in every heart human 
 O'er islands and continents wide, 
 
 The want of the man or the woman 
 The spur is thou usest to ride. 
 
The Marriage of the Soul. 
 
 Thou motive of all human action 
 
 Praise askest thou ? 'Twere to disdain 
 
 The Godlike state lying past faction, 
 Where bliss and the peace of God reign. 
 
 In what mocking tone shall we hymn thee ? 
 
 What fervour throw into our breath ? 
 With garlands of gods poets limn thee 
 
 Thou anticipator of death. 
 
 As a cataract dashes and shatters 
 Each water-drop churned into froth, 
 
 Thy torrent so lashes and scatters 
 The thoughts of us all in thy wrath. 
 
To Desire, 
 
 With burdens by thcc arc we laden. 
 
 The libertine burning with lust, 
 The love-lorn and innocent maiden, 
 
 Both touched are with thy stain of dust. 
 
 In nets of delusion are taken 
 
 The souls of all men, for by each 
 
 The earthly kaleidoscope's shaken, 
 We all stretch our hands out to reach 
 
 Or love, lust, possession, or pleasure. 
 Good name 'mong our fellows or kin, 
 
 Wealth, fame, or dominion, the treasure 
 That each one is anxious to win. 
 
lO The Marriage of the Soul, 
 
 For all seek in something external 
 The bliss of their life to complete, 
 
 Ignoring the great law supernal 
 
 Which aye mixed bitter with sweet ; 
 
 Which rules that the sole advance steady 
 Must lie through the gates of the heart, 
 Till sacrifice makes the soul ready 
 From all earthly wishes to part. 
 
 It *s not to be done in a life time : 
 To start the attempt it were well. 
 
 Nor let renewed breath of each strife time 
 The praise of the conqueror swell. 
 
To Desire, 1 1 
 
 Have none got the strength or the daring 
 
 From fealty degrading to part, 
 To begin the " great journey " by tearing 
 
 Desire from the throne of the heart ? 
 
 A journey 'tis pregnant with sorrow, 
 So great it may well take the breath, 
 
 But when from remembrance we borrow 
 The evjls of life and of death 
 
 A spirit within us arises, 
 
 A Godlike unquenchable fire, 
 Impelling to make sacrifices 
 
 To stifle the pangs of Desire. 
 
1 2 T^he Marriage of the Soul, 
 
 Inspire the " great Orphan " unfriended 
 Thou Spirit in All and in Each ! 
 
 Till the ray in the radiance is blended, 
 O ! Being past knowledge or speech I 
 
 The beams of thine infinite glory, 
 Thy majesty, beauty, and might, 
 
 Blot earth out of mind and of story 
 As day swallows darkness of night. 
 
 And the phantoms we fought in the gloaming, 
 With blows keeping up a vain strife, 
 
 Melt away like a will-o'-wisp roaming 
 'Neath the rays of the sun of our life. 
 
To Desire. 13 
 
 On the pathway of thy contemplation 
 
 Let eyelids and feet never tire, 
 Self's lost in the true concentration, 
 
 Thy sight rings the knell of Desire. 
 
 Thou 'rt All ! We can never discover 
 The depths of thy Being. We 're chid 
 
 As worshipper, student, or lover. 
 In garments of light thou art hid. 
 
 The Uifinite space thou enfoldest. 
 
 As essence most subtle and small 
 In the deep soul of man thou upholdest 
 
 The life giving spark. Thou art All I 
 
14 57/^ Marriage of the Soul, 
 
 Vain words ! Shadows born of delusion 
 Confound 'twixt what is and what seems, 
 
 For words are but shadows' illusion, 
 Our life but the substance of dreams. 
 
 Niagara. 
 
ON MY LADY'S BEAUTY. 
 
 Bliss of bliss, all joys excelling, 
 On my lady's beauty dwelling. 
 Beauty of thy bright eye glances 
 Sunbeam brighter than that dances. 
 Beauty of thy long eye-lashes 
 Through which radiate loving flashes . 
 Hazel eyes, heaven's blue concealing, 
 In their depths new worlds revealing. 
 Beauty of thy throat entrancing, 
 
1 6 ne Marriage of the SouL 
 
 Mouth with ripples round it dancing, 
 Wealth of raven tresses crowns thee. 
 Faultless profile Greek renowns thee. 
 Skin that 's lovelier than gold minted, 
 'Twixt dead-white and olive-tinted. 
 To thy cheek the blood when mounting 
 Adds a charm that knows no counting. 
 Hills of snow, thy bosom's splendour. 
 Force the heart's complete surrender. 
 Every pose and action grace thee. 
 E'en thy robes with love embrace thee. 
 Length of limb and carriage splendid. 
 Dignity and beauty blended. 
 From thy robe the perfume stealing 
 
On my Ladys Beauty, 1 7 
 
 • 
 
 Claims and conquers thought and feeling. 
 
 The odour from thy loosened tresses 
 
 Our most subtle sense addresses. 
 
 Beauty of the modulations 
 
 In thy voice's variations 
 
 Thrills the soul till all who hear thee 
 
 Long for ever to be near thee. 
 
 On thy lips that rival roses 
 
 Realms of bliss thy smile discloses. 
 
 Their expression ever changing 
 
 Heaven to eyes gives o'er thee ranging. 
 
 From her own deep store of learning 
 Pallas dowered thy mind discerning. 
 C 
 
1 8 'The Marriage of the Soul, 
 
 Beauty of thy speech so ready, 
 Of thy well weighed judgment steady, 
 Of thy noble impulse scorning 
 Loss for self, by night or morning 
 When compassion for the sorrows 
 Of the world our pity borrows. 
 Beauty of thy love unfeigning. 
 Of thy patience uncomplaining, 
 Of thy pride and indignation 
 At mean thing in man or nation. 
 Beauty of thy mind, exceeding 
 All thy other beauties, feeding 
 Eyes of sense on sense-world gazing, 
 But thy mind towards Spirit's raising 
 
On my Lady's Beauty. 19 
 
 Soul that longs for deeper union ' 
 
 Than earth gives in sweet communion. 
 
 Soul so loving and defending, 
 
 Hymn thou needest never ending. 
 
 In thy soul the charm residing 
 
 Through the eyes is seen abiding, 
 
 Their pathetic looks betoken 
 
 Depth of passion still unspoken. 
 
 The storms of life, despair and madness 
 
 Both provoking, always sadness, 
 
 Have thee but with pity loaded 
 
 For the wretched by Fate goaded. 
 
 May the tempests of our being 
 
 Weathered by us each unseeing 
 
20 The Marriage of the Soul. 
 
 \ Now receive their final stilling, 
 Our embrace the past fulfilling. 
 , Queen of women all must hold thee, 
 
 Heart to heart let me enfold thee, 
 May our long embrace discover 
 Soul unto the soul of lover. 
 May our thoughts need no expressing 
 In airy words of human dressing, 
 Read we unto inmost being, 
 Heart and mind alike all seeing. 
 May our lives so knit together 
 Life's rough storm in safety weather, 
 Symbol of bliss never ending 
 In deep mystic union blending. 
 
On my Ladys Beauty, 21 
 
 When we meet let time surrender 
 Scene of our last parting tender, 
 May the life and death that sever ' 
 Blot again our memory never. 
 Recognition shall uncover 
 Eyes of lover unto lover. 
 Now at last we're face to face, 
 Lost in the heaven of our embrace. 
 
 North Conway. 
 
TRISHNA. 
 
 We long for rest and leisure 
 
 In intervals of strife, 
 Pain cries aloud to pleasure 
 
 Come home and be my wife ; 
 Come home and take possession 
 Of a heart whose sole confession 
 Is enduring the oppression 
 
 'Neath the hard mill-stones of life. 
 
Krishna, 2% 
 
 The mill-stones grind unheeding 
 
 The sighs and hopes and fears, 
 Each revolution speeding 
 
 Adds stain of blood and tears. 
 And human cries sound thicker 
 As the pace of life grows quicker, 
 And the inner light *s a flicker 
 To the radiance of old years. 
 
 But needle-like our being 
 Obeys the magnet's call. 
 
 From heavens of dreamland fleeing 
 In thickest strife to fall. 
 
24 'The Marriage of the Soul. 
 
 We join the fray with gladness, 
 Experience teaches sadness, 
 Then clear becomes the madness 
 And illusion of it all. 
 
 " From too much love of living " 
 We must ourselves set free 
 
 With well-aimed axe-stroke giving 
 Death to the Upas tree. 
 
 The axe is concentration, 
 
 Each stroke is self-negation, 
 
 The final contemplation 
 *S the end we cannot see. 
 
Trishna. 25 
 
 No more in Nature's fashion 
 Drawn back to earth and night, 
 
 Swept with the winds of passion, 
 Misled by sound and sight. 
 
 Life is a record hoary 
 
 Lost in forgotten story, 
 
 The spark 's merged in the glory 
 Of the Eternal Light. 
 
 Stranraer. 
 
TO THE UNKNOWN GODDESS. 
 
 In love the rain-drops falling from the sky 
 Revive and renovate the parching land, 
 
 No more the panting herds seek shelter nigh, 
 All thankful take the gift from Nature's hand. 
 
 In love the tender rays of morning light 
 Steal from the dim horizon, and first sleep 
 
 Upon the green hill side, then growing bright 
 Are caught enraptured by the valley deep. 
 
'To the Unknown Goddess. 27 
 
 Oh ! fairer, sweeter than all flowers of earth, 
 Than greenest isle on softest summer sea, 
 
 As light to darkness and as rain to dearth, 
 So be thy lover's coming unto thee ! 
 
 Rangoon. 
 
A STOICS SONG. 
 
 When I have passed away, love, 
 
 Let memory not trace 
 The faintest line of sadness 
 
 Upon thy lovely face. 
 
 Let all distress and mourning, 
 
 All tears be left behind, 
 As thy hand loving scatters 
 
 . My ashes to the wind. 
 
A Stoic's Song. 29 
 
 But if thou wilt my mcm'ry 
 
 Be consecrated still, 
 Erect a votive palace 
 
 That revelry may fill, 
 
 Or tomb beside the highway 
 
 Whose dainty carven side 
 Has fauns and satyrs dancing. 
 
 Let it my ashes hide. 
 
 Lived I in time of Akbar ? 
 
 His palace stands to-day 
 Where rites were celebrated 
 
 With song and dancing gay ; 
 
30 'The Marriage of the Soul. 
 
 Or Roman when Rome's grandeur 
 And fame the world did fill ? 
 
 A Roman tomb were fitting 
 I'll be a Roman still. 
 
 In superstition gloomy 
 To-day the people dwell, 
 
 The fear of death is on them, 
 
 They're sunk in their own " Hell " ! 
 
 The guest may leave the banquet 
 His comrade doth not weep, 
 
 The ocean toiler mourns not 
 His brother lapt in sleep. 
 
A Stoic s Song. 3 1 
 
 For life's extinguished embers 
 
 Regret is waste of breath, 
 The weary watcher welcomes 
 
 The placid sleep of death. 
 
 Sandwich, 
 
UNION. 
 
 The poets sing that beauty is a fire 
 Where hearts like moths in self-oblation burn, 
 Matched with the beauty of the soul's desire 
 That were a iiame might soon to darkness turn. 
 
 A symbol faint is earthly beauty's glow 
 
 Of that intenser flame that never dies, 
 
 Where heart and sense and mind and all we know 
 
 ** Offer themselves a burning sacrifice." ^ 
 
Union, 23 
 
 That living fire within the soul resides 
 A fragment ray of the Eternal Light. 
 An-hungered and a-thirst the soul abides 
 When lit has been its searching radiance bright. 
 
 An-hungered for the union that dwells 
 Beyond a world with jarring discord filled ; 
 A-thirst for the deep draught of wisdom's wells 
 Where life's- vain turmoil is for ever stilled. 
 
 For union *s the watchword and the goal 
 Of our desire when all desire is dead, 
 The unutterable passion of the soul, 
 Its final cry when all on earth's been said. 
 
34 '^he Marriage of the SouL 
 
 ** Lost in the common life of all that live," 
 By the four walls of self no more confined, 
 Last, greatest gift that Being has to give, 
 Clasp we the thought with heart and soul and mind ! 
 
 Motive and centre of our soul's desire. 
 Object and refuge of our journey's end. 
 May love and will and courage never tire 
 Till in the radiance the ray shall blend ! 
 
 London. 
 
THE MARRIAGE OF THE SOUL. 
 
 Thou who art source of every inspiration, 
 Mystical SELF, deep hid within the breast. 
 
 Make we to thee our fervent invocation, 
 Spirit to thee shall be the prayer addressed. 
 
 Love is a theme that all the Muses favour. 
 Passion's appeal will make the numbers roll. 
 
 Wing thou with fire his thought and message graver 
 Whose song is of the marriage of the soul. 
 
36 The Marriage of the SouL 
 
 How shall we reach the knowledge of the Highest ? 
 
 When will the light astonish our glad eyes ? 
 Though thou in gloom of earthly prison liest 
 
 Shines aye the sun beyond the clouded skies. 
 
 Long have we laboured through the darkness dreary, 
 Long have we trodden in the Ways of grief, 
 
 Is there no refuge for the pilgrim weary ? . 
 From the fierce fighting is there no relief? 
 
The Marriage of the Soul, 37 
 
 1 
 Through the dim night of Journey never-ending 
 
 Is there no star to light a friendly fire ? 
 
 When shall serenity replace heart-rending ? 
 
 Is there no ceasing to our fierce desire? 
 
 Stream in the twilight through the meadows stealing. 
 Mountain uplifting high thy forehead bare, 
 
 Have ye not heard the voice of our appealing 
 Passion of longing in a storm of prayer ? 
 
 Glory of colours at the day's retiring. 
 
 Stillness of evening as the stars uproU, 
 Witnessed ye not the height of our desiring 
 
 Depth of unsounded agony of soul ? 
 
;^S The Marriage of the Soul, 
 
 Eager with hope's the heart's interrogation 
 E*er the fifst blossoms of life's spring arise, 
 
 Sphinx of the world, fell was thy fascination. 
 Dazzling thy glamour to our wondering eyes. 
 
 Love was it ? Aye, but to the heart o'erladen 
 
 With that which passeth mind or thought or speech 
 
 It was no earthly — 'twas no mortal maiden 
 
 Seemed out of heaven and down to earth to reach. 
 
 False was the seeming and the heart mistook it, 
 Dreamt of a bliss it might not hope to find, 
 
 Melted the vision and the joy forsook it 
 Save in the dim recesses of the mind. 
 
'^he Marriage of the Soul, 39 
 
 Where have they gone those dreams of heavenly places 
 Surging from wells of recollection deep ? 
 
 Whence did they come and where are now the traces ? 
 Lost in the realm mysterious of sleep ! 
 
 Love, it was love, but not for our attaining 
 On the dim path by feet of mortals trod, 
 
 Rather the heart its wider vision's gaining 
 Touched by an ember from the fire of God. 
 
40 l^he Marriage of the SouL 
 
 Hidden behind the veil of dire illusion 
 Deep in the inmost chamber of the soul, 
 
 Calm and serene through all life's wild confusion 
 Reigns the true SELF our utmost being's goal. 
 
 Not till desire is burnt out to an ember, 
 Not till this earth shall seem a little thing, 
 
 Can we the sacred hidden lore remember, 
 Can wc behold ** the glory of our King." 
 
The Marriage of the Soul, 41 
 
 Then shall the eye and ear their use disdaining 
 Merge in the inner hearing, inner sight, 
 
 Then shall illusion's Veil of mist remaining. 
 Melt in the ray of the Eternal Light. 
 
 Dead be the dreams of love or fame we cherished, 
 Conquered the doubts that through our bosom roll, 
 
 Not till all vestige of desire has perished 
 Reach we that final union of soul. 
 
 Then will the island's cry of isolation, 
 Moaning across the false estranging tide, 
 
 Change to the song that's sung by all creation 
 Choiring the mystic marriage of **the Bride." 
 
42 ^he Marriage of the Soul. 
 
 Then on the shore of final knowledge landing 
 Shall we the consciousness of Godhead win, 
 
 That is the peace that passeth understanding, 
 That is to know the Deity within. 
 
 When some grand symphony's divine appealing 
 Speaks to the heart unutterable things, 
 
 'X is but this mighty goal's obscure revealing 
 Borne on the pinion of the music's wings. 
 
The Marriage of the Soul, 43 
 
 So to the hidden goal of our aspiring 
 Journey we, guarding aye the sacred fire 
 
 Till in the heart of our divine desiring 
 
 Slowly 's achieved the death of our desire. 
 
 Glad let us be, but false is earth-born gladness, 
 Blinding the soul with glamour of delight. 
 
 Sad we must be, false equally is sadness. 
 Learn we the "higher carelessness" aright. 
 
44. ^he Marriage of the Soul, 
 
 Through the heart's frost of desolate enduring 
 Fighting desire till Winter's night be past, 
 
 Slowly the " peace of God " is aye maturing, 
 So shall serenity be won at last. 
 
 How can we slay the brood of monsters teeming ? 
 
 Where are the weapons that are sure to kill ?, 
 First is to know the real from the seeming, 
 
 Then the omnipotent and Godlike Will. 
 
 First is to know, but hard is wisdom's winning. 
 Price of that pearl means loss of lesser things, 
 
 Will to attain the Truth is the beginning 
 
 Though the attainment pain and sorrow brings. 
 
The Marriage of the Soul. 45 
 
 Pain of the bitter deathless aspiration, 
 Sorrow beyond the ken of days and years, 
 
 Pain that becomes the very soul's oblation. 
 Sorrow that drinks the salt of all men's tears. 
 
 But what are pain and sorrow to the finding 
 Of the true light that can all mists dispel, 
 
 This of the sunlit uplands the reminding. 
 
 That the foul groping through the gloom of hell. 
 
 Effort though worsted's never unavailing. 
 
 Up from defeat and to the onset still ! 
 Win we through effort in the end prevailing 
 
 Clearness of vision, greater strength of will. 
 
46 The Marriage of the Soul. 
 
 Will must obtain o'er mind the domination, 
 Thought must be held in mastery complete, 
 
 But the last word is " perfect concentration," 
 Sainted ascetic's great and final feat. 
 
The Marriage of the SouL '47 
 
 Told in all tongues, the dower of every nation, 
 
 Is this old story of the Gospel preached, 
 Legend archaic of the soul's probation 
 
 Till the achievement of **the Christ" is reached. 
 
 « 
 
 When of the flesh the " crucifixion " 's ended 
 Dead is desire, and all the earthly strife, 
 
 Bridegroom and bride are mystically blended 
 We are the ** resurrection and the life." 
 
48 ^'he Marriage of the Soul. 
 
 Note, — It is needless to point outhow|jae primitive teachings 
 of all the great religions of the world, which were the rays of 
 Celestial Wisdom Herself have gradually become — in some cases 
 more and in others less — ** converted into Dogma so pernicious 
 and so deadly as to blight and destroy the reason of all who come 
 under its control." 
 
 Nor is it necessary to dwell on that special church which has 
 dared to anathematize all those outside its narrow boundaries, and 
 which has notably materialized and degraded the spiritual idea 
 contained in the " Archaic Legend." 
 
The Marriage of the Soul. 49 
 
 So to the end the struggle aye sustaining, 
 Longing for peace but reaching strife instead. 
 
 Battle we sternly through the days remaining 
 In the fierce fight between the quick and dead/ 
 
 So without friendly grasp of comrade cheering, 
 So without love but with the heart aflame, ^ 
 
 Lonely as one the mountain summit nearing, 
 Equally tread we o*er men's praise and blame. 
 
 ^ Between the immortal Higher Self and the lower personal self. 
 E 
 
50 "The Marriage of the SouL 
 
 Boundless compassion bear we to all living, 
 Linked to no mortal — wedded to no wife, 
 
 Service and fellowship to all men giving 
 Weave we the garment of the Perfect Life ! 
 
The Marriage of the Soul, 51 
 
 Self in the hollow of the heart that hidest 
 Of the illusive self that bounds our view. 
 
 Self that through all eternity abidest 
 
 Thou that in falsehood's realm alone art true. 
 
 Thou that in life and death art consolation, 
 Part that art one with the Eternal Whole, 
 
 Bridegroom, to Thee may our renunciation _ 
 Herald the mystic marriage of the soul. 
 
A LOVER'S RHAPSODY. 
 
 O LOVER of the beauty of the rose, 
 Of dying daylight on the mountain snows, 
 Of all the loveliness that eye hath seen. 
 There is a love that thine in shadow throws^ 
 
 O lover of the nightingale's keen song — 
 Rapturous trill or plaint of cruelj*»fmig — 
 
 Know'st thou the l^^^^^hose lightest eddies sweep 
 Swifter th^jrtnusic's self the soul along ? 
 
i 
 
 A Lover's Rhapsody. t^^ 
 
 O lover with the fire of passion's breath 
 
 W}t5 deem'st thy love the one thing this side death, 
 
 Thou 'st yet to learn top note of passion's key 
 
 Passion's own self that all o'ermastereth. 
 VCxlJl \^% irVMII Vo\^l^ Vjkc< \<JUA W«4C^ VW«t, 
 
 The love of Him or It — whichjJjalfTsay ? — 
 
 Controls the heartaj«fwkcs the breath away, 
 
 It is "flTlfiadness firing heart and brain. 
 Ever within me let such madness stay. 
 
 I cannot name Thee and 'tis better so. 
 Thou art beyond all knowledge that I know ; 
 
 I only feel the rapture of Thy loveS 
 Fire fot-theWood within my veins that flow. 
 
54 '^he Marriage of the Soul. 
 
 The love of Thee is a consuming fire 
 
 Burning all growths tha^*pfmg from earthly mire, 
 
 Burning thgflf^oot and branch and stem, until 
 Desirc^H^ Thee hath swallowed all desire. 
 
 Thou art the essence of the rose perfume, 
 Thou the soul hid within the rose's bloom, 
 Of all this world's dark mystery the key, 
 Th€Mi-the-tfum^p heralding a nation's doo m: "- ts 
 
 Soul of the Universe to Thee I turn, 
 Fire of the central fire with Thee I burn, 
 Far and unknowable yet nigh to each. 
 Self of my inmost self for Thee I yearn. 
 
A Lover's Rhapsody, 55 
 
 Drunk with Thy wine — from all illusion free — 
 Seeing in Thee the one Reality 
 
 Strive we with fervent feet until we be 
 Lost in the ocean fathomless of Thee. 
 
 CHISWICK PRESS :— C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, 
 CHANCERY LANE. 
 
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