Carmen Saeculare

The noise of rushing water ! And the sound Of tenfold thunder ! Mighty a flame of fire Roars downward : as a maiden from a swound My spirit answers to its own desire. My feet are firm again upon the ground— Yea ! but my head is higher. My face is shining with the fire of heaven. I move among my fellows as a ghost. With thought for bread and memory for leaven My life is nourished, yet my life is lost. I live and move among the starry seven, Nor count the deadly cost. Only I see the century as a child Call Truth and Justice, Light and Peace, to guide ; Wisdom and Joy, and Love the undefiled, Lead up true worship, its eternal bride. Stormy its birth ; its youth, now fierce and wild ! Its end, how glorified ! O Spirit of Illimitable Light ! O Thou with style and tablet ! Answer me In that dread pomp of Triumph and of Right, The awful day : my witnesses are Ye That I have said in all men’s sound and sight The things that are to be. 17