Collected Works (Vol. I)

TANNHAUSER 261 That glowed with most internal brilliance ; Borne up, borne up by hands invisible Into a firmament of secret light Manifest, open, permeating me ! Then, then, I cried upon the mystic Word ! (That once begot in me the Venusberg) And lo! that light was darkness—in the , face Of That which gleamed above. And verily My life was borne on the dark stream of death Down whirling aeons, linked abysses, columns Built of essential time. © And lo! the light Shed from Her shoulders whom I dimly saw ; Crowned with twelve stars and horndd as the moon; Clothed with a sun to which the sun of earth Were tinsel; and the moon was at Her feet 1— A moon whose brilliance breaks the sword of song Into a million fragments ; so transcends Music, that starlight-sandalled majesty ! Then—shall I contemplate the face of Her? O Nature! Self-begotten! Spouse of God, The Glory of thy Countenance unveiled ! Thy face, O mother ! Splendour of the Gods! Behold ! amid the glory of her hair And light shed over from the crown thereof, Wonderful eyes less passionate than Peace That wept! That weot! O mystery of Love! Clasping my hands upon the-scarlet rose That flamed upon my bosom, the keen thorns Pierced me and slew! My spirit was with- drawn Into Her godhead, and my soul made One With the Great Sorrow of the Universe, The Love of Isis! Then I fell away Into some old mysterious abyss Rolling between the heights of starry space ; Flaming above, beyond the Tomb of Time, Blending the darkness into the profound Chasms of matter—so I fell away Through many strange eternities of Space, 1 Revelations xii. I, Limitless fields of Time. I knew in me That I must fall into the ground and die ; Dwell in the deep a-many years, at last To rise again—Osiris, slain and risen ! Light of the Cross, I see Thee in the sky, My future! I must perish from the earth, Abide in desolate halls, until the hour When a new Christ must needs be crucified.— So weep I ever with Our Lady’s tears, Weep for the pain, the travail, the old curse ; Weep, weep, and die. Grail, The Glory of the Crucified ! Dear friend, Be happy, for my heart goes out to you, And most to that poor pale Elizabeth— Were it not only that the selflessness That fills me now, forbids the personal, Casts out the individual, and weeps on For the united sorrow of all things. For if I die, it is not Tannhduser, Rather a spark of the supreme white light That dwelt and flickered in him in old time ; That Light, I say, that hides its flame awhile To shine more fully—to redeem the world ! I say, then, ‘‘ I”; and yet it is not “I” Distinct, but ‘‘ I” incorporate in All. I am the Resurrection and the Life ! The Work is finished, and the Night rolled back ! I am the Rising Sun of Life and Light, The Glory of the Shining of the Dawn! Iam Osiris! I the Lord of Life Triumphant over death— O Sorrow, Sorrow, Sorrow of the World! So dawns at last the HEINRICH. This was my friend. Deep night descends, perfused With unsubstantial glory from beyond. The stars are buried in the mist of light. Beyond the hill the world is, and laments Existence—the wide firmament of woe!