The Sword of Song

THE SWORD OF SONG 32 As by a lightning flash, solve doubt And turn all Nature inside out : And, if such potency of might Hath Truth, once state the truth aright, Whence came the use for all these pages Millions together—mighty sages Whom the least obstacle enrages ? Condemn the mystic if he prove Thinking less valuable than love ? Well, let them try their various plans ! Do they resolve that doubt of man’s ? How many are Hegelians ? This, though I hold him mostly true. But, to teach others that same view ? Surely long years develop reason.45 After long years, too, in thy season Bloom, Concentration’s midnight flower ! After much practice to this end I gain at last the long sought power (Which you believe you have this hour, But certainly have not, my friend !) Of keeping close the mind to one Thing at a time—suppose, the Sun. I gain this (Reverence to Ganesh’ !)46 And at that instant comprehend (The past and future tenses vanish) What Fichte comprehends. Division, Thought, wisdom, drop away. I see The absolute identity Of the beholder and the vision. There is a lake* amid the snows Wherein five glaciers merge and break. Oh ! the deep brilliance of the lake ! The roar of ice that cracks and goes Crashing within the water ! Glows The pale pure water, shakes and slides The glittering sun through emerald tides, So that faint ripples of young light Laugh on the green. Is there a night * This simile for the mind and its impressions, which must be stilled before the sun of the soul can be reflected, is common in Hindu literature. The five glaciers are, of course, the senses. 390 395 400 405 410 415 420 425 But the results of concentra- tion do so. Some poetry.