Ambergris

54 AMBERGRIS FROM TANNHÄUSER Tannhäuser’s Song In the Beginning God began And saw the Night of Time begin ; Chaos, a speck ; and space, a span ; Ruinous cycles fallen in, And Darkness on the Deep of Time. Murmurous voices call and climb ; Faces, half-formed, arise ; and He Looked from the shadow of His throne, The curtain of Eternity ; He looked—and saw Himself alone, And on the sombre sea, the primal one, Faint faces, that might not abide ; Flicker, and are fordone. So were they caught within the spacious tide, The sleepy waters that encased the world Monsters rose up, and turned themselves, and curled Into the deep again. The darkness brooded, and the bitter pain Of chaos twisted the vast limbs of time In horrid rackings : then the spasm came : The Serpent rose, the servant of the slime, In one dark miracle of flame Unluminous and void : the silent claim Of that which was, to be : the cry to climb, The bitter birth of Nature : uttermost Night Dwelt, inaccessible to sound and sight ; Shielded from Voice, impervious to Light. Lo ! on the barren bosom, on the brine, The spirit of the Mighty One arose, A flickering light, a formless triple flame,