As I write the sun is setting; in the pale radiance of the sky above
his glory there dawns the evening star; and earth like a tired child
turns her face to the bosom of the night.
III
ONCE again I have paid a rare visit to my tree to find many things
changed since my last sojourn there. The bees are silent, for the
honey-laden flowers of the sycamore are gone and in their place hang
dainty two-fold keys. The poplar has lost its metallic shimmer, the
chestnut its tall white candles; and the sound of the wind in the
fully-leaved branches is like the sighing of the sea. The martins'
nests are finished, and one is occupied by a shrill-voiced brood; but
for the most part the birds' parental cares are over, and the nestlings
in bold flight no longer flutter on inefficient wings across the lawn
with clamorous, open bill. The robins show promise of their ruddy
vests, the slim young thrush is diligently practising maturer notes,
and soon Maid June will have fled.
It is such a wonderful world that I cannot find it in my heart to sigh
for fresh beauty amid these glories of the Lord on which I look, seeing
men as trees walking, in my material impotence which awaits the final
anointing. The marigolds with their orange suns, the lilies' white
flame, the corncockle's blue crown of many flowers, the honeysuckle's
horn of fragrance--I can paraphrase them, name, class, dissect them;
and then, save for the purposes of human intercourse, I stand where I
stood before, my world bounded by my capacity, the secret of colour and
fragrance still kept. It is difficult to believe that the second lesson
will not be the sequence of the first, and death prove a "feast of
opening eyes" to all these wonders, instead of the heavy-lidded slumber
to which we so often liken it. "Earth to earth?" Yes, "dust thou art,
and unto dust thou shalt return," but what of the rest? What of the
folded grave clothes, and the Forty Days? If the next state be, as it
well might, space of four dimensions, and the first veil which will
lift for me be the material one, then the "other" world which is hidden
from our grosser material organism will lie open, and declare still
further to my widening eyes and unstopped ears the glory and purpose of
the manifold garment of God. Knowledge will give place to understanding
in that second chamber of the House of Wisdom and Love. Revelation is
always measured by capacity: "Open thy mouth wide," and it shall be
filled with a satisfaction that in itself is desire.
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