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. 
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But the results 
of concentra-
tion do so.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Some poetry.