AE in the Irish TheosophistRussell, George William
Religion
AE in the Irish Theosophist
Russell, George William
Theosophy
We saw them pass by and we were saddened, for they were full of
solemn majesty; overhead a chant came from celestial singers full
of the agony of farewell and departure, and we knew from their
song that the gods were about to leave the earth which would
nevermore or for ages witness their coming. The earth and the air
around it seemed to tingle with anguish. Shuddering we drew closer
together on the hillside while the brightness of the Devas passed
onward and away; and clear cold and bright as ever, the eternal
constellations, which change or weep not, shone out, and we were
alone with our sorrow. To awed we were to speak, but we clung closer
together and felt a comfort in each other; and so, crouched in
silence; within me I heard as from far away a note of deeper anguish,
like a horn blown out of the heart of the ancient Mother over a
perished hero: in a dread moment I saw the death and the torment;
he was her soul-point, the light she wished to shine among men.
What would follow in the dark ages to come, rose up before me in
shadowy, over-crowding pictures; like the surf of a giant ocean
they fluctuated against the heavens, crested with dim, giantesque
and warring figures. I saw stony warriors rushing on to battle;
I heard their fierce hard laughter as they rode over the trampled foe;
I saw smoke arise from a horrible burning, and thicker and blacker
grew the vistas, with here and there a glow from some hero-heart
that kept the true light shining within. I turned to Primaveeta
who was crouched beside me: he saw with me vision for vision, but,
beyond the thick black ages that shut me out from hope, he saw the
resurrection of the True, and the homecoming of the gods. All this
he told me later, but now our tears were shed together. Then
Primaveeta rose up and said, "Vyasa, where the lights were shining,
where they fought for the True, there you and I must fight; for,
from them spreads out the light of a new day that shall dawn behind
the darkness." I saw that he was no longer a dreamer; his face
was firm with a great resolve. I could not understand him, but I
determined to follow him, to fight for the things he fought for,
to work with him, to live with him, to die with him; and so,
thinking and trying to understand, my thought drifted back to that
sadness of the mother which I had first felt. I saw how we share
joy or grief with her, and, seized with the inspiration of her sorrow,
I sang about her loved one:--
"Does the earth grow grey with grief
For her hero darling fled?
Though her vales let fall no leaf,
In our hearts her tears are shed.
"Still the stars laugh on above,
Not to them her grief is said;
Mourning for her hero love
In our hearts her tears are shed.
"We her children mourn for him,
Mourn the elder hero dead;
In the twilight grey and dim
In our hearts the tears are shed."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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