Classic Poem

The sun now low on the horizon lay,
On the horizon of the Holy Land,
Shedding on Sion's mount the close of day;
And Night, who aye opposed to him doth stand,
Came slowly forth from out the Ganges stream,
Bearing the balances, that from her hand
At midnight fall: and thus the rosy gleam,
Tinging the cheeks of the fair Nymph of Day,
All changed to orange hue to us did seem.
And still beside the shore did we delay,
As those who musing would their path discern,
Go with their heart and with their footsteps stay.
And lo! as, near the dawning of the morn,
Through the thick vapour Mars, with redder light,
Shines in the west, above the watery bourne,
I saw (and would 'twere now within my sight,)
A star come swiftly tow'rds us o'er the sea;
Faster it sped than any arrow's flight.
One moment at my guide I glanced, that he
Might with his wisdom aid my weaker thought;
More large and bright the vision seem'd to be.
Now on each side appear'd I knew not what
Of white; and as the vessel nearer drew,
Beneath, meseem'd, another form it brought.
My guide was silent, till at last he knew
The bark that sped on its unearthly road,
Borne by those wings of white and glistening hue.
He cried: " Now lowly kneel upon the sod;
Behold a heavenly angel; fold thy hands;
For thou shalt see the messenger of God.
Lo! for his wondrous voyage he demands
Nor oar, nor sail, nor any means of flight,
Save his own wings, between such distant strands.
See how he spreads them tow'rds the fount of light,
Those pinions which unchanged do ever wear,
Unlike to human locks, their freshness bright.
Now, as the bird of heaven to us drew near,
The dazzling radiance lighten'd more and more,
Till human eye the splendour might not bear,
But sank to earth. Softly he touch'd the shore,
With his light shallop gliding o'er the flood,
That gently still its charmid burden bore;
And at the helm the angel pilot stood,
With blessedness inscribed upon his brow.
More than a hundred souls there were who would
Here wash away their mortal stains: and now
" In exitu " they sang; as with one voice
Did all the psalm in sweetest music flow.
And then he made the sign of Holy Cross;
Wherefore they gladly sprang upon the strand:
And, as he came, so swiftly did he pass.
With shy and timid aspect did the band,
Left on a stranger shore, look round each way,
As one who would some new thing understand.
The sun was shooting down the burning day,
The fiery darts with which his skilful bow
From half the sky had chased the Goat away:
Turning towards us with uplifted brow
The wand'rers newly landed from the sea
Of us the way to climb the mount would know.
And Virgil answerid: " It well may be,
Ye think we have experience of this land;
But we are also pilgrims even as ye.
A little while before you, we did wend
Hither our way along a path so rude
That now this seemeth easy to ascend. "
The souls, who by my breathing understood
That yet I had not seen the mists of death,
All wonderstruck remain'd, and pale and mute:
And as to him who wears an olive wreath,
To hear glad tidings all the people flow,
Each trampling each, so fast he hasteneth:
Now unto me those blessid souls even so
Drew near; and in their eagerness forgot
That they to wash away their stains must go.
And one advanced as to embrace me, fraught
With such deep tenderness in all his mien,
It moved my heart to the like gentle thought.
O Shades, in all but in the aspect vain!
Three times around his form my arms I threw;
Thrice they return'd to my own breast again.
I think my cheek with wonder changed its hue;
Wherefore the shadow smiled, and drew away;
And I, who follow'd him, pass'd onward too.
Gently he said to me that I should stay;
And then I knew him, and I begg'd that he
To speak with me a little would delay.
He said: " As was in life my love to thee,
It is the same in death; therefore I stop:
But tell me wherefore may thy coming be? "
I said: " My own Casella, for the hope
Here to return again; but why so long
Hast thou delay'd to reach thy journey's scope? "
And he to me: " No one hath done me wrong,
If he, that (when and whom he will) doth bear
Unto this blessid isle the spirit throng,
Hath still denied the voyage unto my prayer.
His will is ever just. — Three months have fled,
Since all who would may freely enter here;
And I, who in that region of the dead
Was left, where Tiber to the sea doth flow,
At last benignly to this shore was led.
Again toward that stream his pinions go,
For waiting ever on its strand are found
Those who descend not to the shades below. "
" If the decrees by which thou here art bound, "
I said, " have left remembrance of the strain
That used to calm my spirit with sweet sound,
Then with its melody console again
My heart, which, passing through such scenes of ill,
In coming here hath suffer'd many a pain. "
" Love that within my soul discourseth still, "
Thus he began; so musical the lay
Its sweetness yet my memory doth fill.
And ever listening, both we and they
Who with the minstrel were, seem'd so content
As care for aught besides had pass'd away.
And still we stood, all silent and intent
Upon his notes: when lo! the sage, who cries:
" Wherefore do ye delay the steep ascent,
O indolent and slothful? Now arise;
Fly to the mount to wash away the slime
Which hides the Eternal Spirit from your eyes. "
Even as the doves in pleasant harvest time,
To feed upon the golden grain unite,
Silent, without their wonted murmuring rhyme;
If aught appear that causes them affright,
Sudden they let their food untasted stand,
Because on them a greater care doth light:
Thus did I see the new-come pilgrim-band
(As one who goes, unheeding of the way)
Leaving the music, fly towards the strand:
Nor were we less intent on hasty flight than they.