“I dreamed that I stood in space. Far to my right was a great globe of
light, and to my left was another globe, and I knew that the globes
were named Life and Death. From the globe on the right to the globe on
the left, and back again, a golden shuttle, in which two flaming eyes
were set, was shot continually, and I knew also that this was the
shuttle of Destiny, weaving the web of Fate. Presently the shuttle
flew, leaving behind it a long silver thread, and the eyes in the
shuttle were such as your eyes. Again the shuttle sped through space,
and this time its eyes were like my eyes, and the thread it left behind
it was twisted from a woman’s hair. Half way between the globes of Life
and Death my thread was broken, but the shuttle flew on and vanished.
For a moment the thread hung in air, then a wind rose and blew it, so
that it floated away like a spider’s web, till it struck upon your
silver thread of life and began to twist round and round it. As it
twisted it grew larger and heavier, till at last it was thick as a
great tress of hair, and the silver line bent beneath the weight so
that I saw it soon must break. Then while I wondered what would happen,
a white hand holding a knife slid slowly down the silver line, and with
the knife severed the wrappings of woman’s hair, which fell and floated
slowly away, like a little cloud touched with sunlight, till they were
lost in darkness. But the thread of silver that was your line of life,
sprang up quivering and making a sound like sighs, till at last it
sighed itself to silence.
“Then I seemed to sleep, and when I woke I was floating upon such a
misty sea as we saw last night. I had lost all sight of land, and I
could not remember what the stars were like, nor how I had been taught
to steer, nor understand where I must go. I called to the sea, and
asked it of the stars, and the sea answered me thus:
“‘Hope has rent her raiment, and the stars are set.’
“I called again, and asked of the land where I should go, and the land
did not answer, but the sea answered me a second time:
“‘Child of the mist, wander in the mist, and in darkness seek for
light.’
“Then I wept because Hope had rent her starry garment and in darkness I
must seek for light. And while I still wept, _you_ rose out of the sea
and sat before me in the boat. I had never seen you before, and still I
felt that I had known you always. You did not speak, and I did not
speak, but you looked into my heart and saw its trouble. Then I looked
into your heart, and read what was written. And this was written:
“‘Woman whom I knew before the Past began, and whom I shall know when
the Future is ended, why do you weep?’
“And my heart answered, ‘I weep because I am lost upon the waters of
the earth, because Hope has rent her starry robes, and in everlasting
darkness I must seek for light that is not.’ Then your heart said, ‘_I_
will show you light,’ and bending forward you touched me on the breast.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account