Even to the confines of wide space ;
Comets their tails in fury lash
To look on our irradiate face.
And we will heal them. Dragon men
And serpent women, worm and clod,
Shall rise and look upon us then,
And know us to be very God,
Finding a saviour in the sight
Of power attaining unto peace,
And meditation’s virgin might
Pregnant with twins—love and release.
Are you not ready? Let us leave
This little Paris to its fate!
Our friends a little while may grieve,
And then forget : but we, elate,
Live in a larger air : awake,
Compassion in the Halls of Truth!
Disdain love for love’s very sake!
Take all our beauty, strength, and youth,
And melt them in the crucible
To that quintessence at whose gleam
Gold shudders and grows dull ; expel
The final dross by intimate stream
Of glowing truth, our lunar light!
Are you not ready? Who would stay ?
Arise, O Queen, O Queen of Night!
Arise, and leave the little day!
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