Índice Geral das Seções Índice da Seção Atual Índice da Obra Atual Anterior: 11. A Guerra Seguinte: 13. “Pois Meu Filho Estava Morto, e Vive Novamente; Estava Perdido, e o Encontrei”
(p. 41)
12.
UMA VISÃO DE FILOSOFIA
I
LAY all night in dreams, and heard
The storm on sounding
pinions sweep
The far-off caverns of
the deep,
And dying float into
the height.
But upward through the
thunder, came
Strange voices calling
on my name,
Till all my soul within
me stirred,
And through the shadowy
gates of sleep
Passed
out into the open night.
Then all the air was
filled with sound;
O’erhead
the storm tumultuous shook
The walls of heaven, to
and fro
Swept the mad winds,
and all around
The wrangling tongues
of tempest woke
Shrill echoes, and
through darkness broke
Harsh discord, ––
melody sublime
Confused in clamour, but below
Like distant thunder,
ceaseless spoke
(p. 42)
The
ever-sounding
Then while I mused what
this should be,
Came upward on the hurricane
A cry as of a child in
pain,
And like a curtain,
under me
The parted shadows of
the night
Rolled backward from the
open sea,
And with the eyes of
inward sight
My soul beheld a
mystery.
For so it seemed, that
while I gazed,
Full in their midst the
waters bore
Through swirling surge
and tempest wild
A struggling boat, and Io! a child, ––
A tiny child with hands
upraised,
Stood by the helm, and
evermore
’Mid the black night
and starless sky,
Went
upward that incessant cry.
“Philosophy!
Philosophy!
Alas! what art thou unto me?
Where is thy boast, the
promised goal,
The
golden rest beyond the sea?
Or what of good far off
shall be,
To
fill the void within my soul?
“I hear the storm go to
and fro,
The shuddering waters
sink and swell,
I feel the darkness
round me grow,
(p. 43)
The mocking darkness
and the night;
But only these, nor can
I tell
What hangs above, –– what
lies below,
I know nor depth, nor
breadth, nor height.
“What do I here, if this be all?
Methinks ’twere sweeter not to be,
Sweeter to cease, and
ceasing fall
Like vapour to the winds, and blend
Myself in chaos, for I find,
Philosophy, thou hast
an end
With mortal life and
human mind,
Nor can thine eyes of wisdom see Farther.”
Then
from the distant shore
Answered the voices of
the wild,
And through the
darkness passed along
A sound as of a far-off
cry;
One word of echo, and
no more,
Like a lost note of
melody,
The key-note of some
wondrous song
Borne downward on a
sudden blast, ––
“Father!”
–– and into silence passed.
Then from my soul there
came a sigh,
“O weary waiting heart!”
said I,
“Who answered from the
distant shore?
It was the echo, and no
more; ––
The echo, –– though it
seemed reply.”
(p. 44)
But Io! a voice that answered me
Close in my ear, –– “Look
down and see
The end of thy
philosophy,
O man! for GOD HAS CEASED TO BE;
And know how idly thou
hast dreamed.”
And straightway in my
sleep it seemed
My eyes were opened,
for I saw
The universe without a
law,
Headlong through horrid
darkness hurled,
And at my feet the
groaning world
Tottered upon its poles
and fell
A
shattered mass, from hell to hell.
Star crashed on star,
and systems broke, ––
I saw, I shuddered and
awoke.
Then like a giant rose my soul
Within me, and I
understood
How all things strong,
and wise, and good,
Are centred
in one perfect Whole,
One living Love within
the Heart
Of One great FATHER Whom
in part
We know as GOD, but know no more,
And knowing, narrowly
adore.
Índice Geral das Seções Índice da Seção Atual Índice da Obra Atual Anterior: 11. A Guerra Seguinte: 13. “Pois Meu Filho Estava Morto, e Vive Novamente; Estava Perdido, e o Encontrei”