{North Coast and other Poems 1868}

                                                                                                                      Pg
                                                                                                                     215

HAHON.

HAHON of Thule, ere he died,                                                 [1:1]
Summoned a priest to his bed-side.                                            [1:2]

‘Ho, priest,’ he said, with glazéd e’e,                                          [2:1]
‘What comfort canst thou cast to me?’                                       [2:2]

The young priest, with a timorous mouth,                                    [3:1]
Told of the new gods of the South,—

Of Mary mother and her Child,                                                  [4:1]
And holy saints with features mild;                                              [4:2]

Of those who hate and those who love,
Of hell below and heaven above.                                                [5:2]

Then Hahon laughed full loud and shrill—                                   [6:1]
‘Serve thy puny gods who will!’                                                 [6:2]

‘’Neath braver gods my star was born;                                       217
How should I pray to things I scorn?’

Then, calling to his henchman red,                                               [8:1]
‘Slit me the throat o’ the priest,’ he said;                                     [8:2]

‘His red heart’s blood shall flow before,
As gracious sacrifice to Thor!                                                     [9:2]

‘Bring me my mighty drinking-cup!                                            [10:1]
With fiery wine now fill it up!’

Then, though so faint his life’s blood ran,—                               [11:1]
‘Let me die standing, like a man!’

He swore, and staggered to his legs,
And drained the goblet to the dregs.

‘Skaal be to the gods!’ he said—
His great heart burst, and he was dead!

[Notes:
Alterations in the 1884 edition of ‘The Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan’:
The name is changed from Hahon to Hakon.
v. 1, l. 1: HAKON of Thule, ere he died,
v. 1, l. 2: Summoned a Priest to his bed-side.
v. 2, l. 1: ‘Ho, Priest!’ with blackening brow quoth he,
v. 2, l. 2: ‘What comfort canst thou cast to me?’
v. 3, l. 1: The young Priest, with a timorous mouth,
v. 4, l. 1: Of Mary Mother and her Child,
v. 4, l. 2: And holy Saints with features mild;
v. 5, l. 2: Of Hell beneath and Heaven above.
v. 6, l. 1: Then Hakon laughed full loud and shrill—
v. 6, l. 2: ‘Serve thy puny gods who will!’
verse 7 omitted
v. 8, l. 1: Then, roaring to his henchman red,
v. 8, l. 2: ‘Slit me the throat o’ the Priest,’ he said;
v. 9, l. 2: As steaming sacrifice to Thor!
v. 10, l. 1: ‘Bring me my mighty drinking-cup:
v. 11, l. 1: Then, though so faint his life’s blood ran, ]

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                                                                                                  218

CELTIC MYSTICS.

I.

          IF thou art an Angel,
          Who hath sent thee,
          O Phantasy, brooding
Over my pale wife’s sleeping?
          In the darkness
          I am listening
For the rustle of thy robe;
Would I might feel thee breathing,
Would I might hear thee speaking,
Would I might only touch thee
          By the hand!

          She is very cold,
          My wife is very cold,
          Her eyes are withered,
Her breath is dried like dew,—                                            219  [2:4]
The sound of my weeping
          Disturbeth her not.                                                           [2:6]
Thy shadow, O Phantasy,
          Lieth like moonlight
          Upon her features,
And the lines of her mouth
          Are very sweet.

          In the night
I heard my pale wife moaning,
          Yet did not know
          What made her afraid.
          My pale wife said,
          ‘I am very cold,’
And shrank away from thee,
Though I saw thee not;
And she kissed me and went to sleep,
And gave a little start upon my arm
When thou camest near                                                             [3:11]
          And touchedst her!                                                         [3:12]

          What art thou?                                                                 [4:1]
          Art thou an Angel?                                                           [4:2]
          Or art thou only                                                                220
          The chilly night-wind,
          Stealing downward
From the regions where the sun
Dwelleth alone with his shadow
          On a waste of snow?
Art thou the water or earth?
Or art thou the scented air?                                                       [4:10]
          Or art thou only
          An apparition
          Made by the mist
Of mine own eyes weeping?

          She is very cold,
          My wife is very cold!
          I will kiss her,
And the silver-haired mother will kiss her,
And the little children will kiss her;
And then we will wrap her warm,
And hide her in a hollow space;
And the house will be empty
          Of thee, O Phantasy,
Cast on the unhappy household
          By the strange white clay.                                               [5:11]

Much I marvel, O Phantasy,
          That one so gentle,
          So sweet, when living,
Should cast a shadow so huge as thine;                                       [6:4]
          For, lo! thou loomest
          Upward and heavenward,
          Hiding the sunlight,
          Blackening the snow,
And the pointing of thy finger
          Fadeth afar away                                                            [6:10]
On the sunset-tinged edges,
Where Time and mortal vision perish,                                        [6:12]
Where Man’s company ends,
And GOD’s loneliness begins.

                                                                                                  222

II.

THE VISION.

AND sitting by her side, worn out with weeping,                                 [1:1]
Behold, I fell to sleep, and had a vision,
Wherein I heard a wondrous voice intoning:  

Crying aloud, ‘The Master on His throne
Openeth now the seventh seal of wonder,
And beckoneth back the angel men name Death;                                  [2:3]

‘And at His feet the filmy terror kneeleth,                                              [3:1]
Breathing not; and the LORD doth look upon him,
Saying, “Thy wanderings, dear Cain, are ended.                                   [3:3]

‘“To thee, O Cain, I gave in the beginning
The punishment of dealing out decay,
And, lo! thou art the sweeter from thy labour.

‘“Hie back into the City of the Chosen,                                                 223
Where Abel is awaiting to embrace thee;
I need thee on the earth of men no longer.”’

And there the dreamy angel sitteth silent,                                               [6:1]
Even at the silver gates of heaven,
Drowsily looking in on the Eternal,                                                        [6:3]

And puts his silence among men no longer.

*

And at the bottom of a snowy mountain                                                [8:1]
I came upon a woman sorrow-thinned,                                                 [8:2]
Whose voice was like the crying of a sea-gull.

Saying, ‘O Death, Death, Death, come hither, hither;                            [9:1]
And bring the corpse I seek for on thy bosom,                                      [9:2]
That I may close its eyelids and embrace it.                                           [9:3]

‘I curse thee that I cannot look upon him!
I curse thee that I know not he is sleeping!
Yet know that he has vanished upon GOD!

‘I laid my little girl upon a wood-bier,                                                    224
And very sweet she seemed, and near unto me,                                   [11:2]
And putting flowers into her shroud was comfort.                                [11:3]

‘I put my silver mother in the darkness,
And kissed her, and was solaced by her kisses,
And set a stone, to mark the place, above her.

‘And green, green were their quiet sleeping-places,
So green that it was pleasant to remember
That I and my tall man would sleep beside them.

‘The closing of dead eyelids is not dreadful,
For comfort comes upon us when we close them,
And tears fall, and our sorrow grows familiar;

‘And we can sit above them where they slumber,
And spin a dreamy pain into a sweetness,
And know indeed that we are very near them.

‘But to stretch out empty arms is surely dreadful,                                 [16:1]
And to feel the horrid empty world is awful,                                         [16:2]
And bitter grow the silence and the distance.

‘There is no space for grieving or for weeping;
No touch, no cold, no agony to strive with,
And nothing but a horror and a blankness.’                                          [17:3]

                                                                                                            226

*

And, behold! I saw a woman in a mud-hut,                                          [18:1]
Raking the white spent embers with her fingers,
And fouling her bright hair with the white ashes;                                    [18:3]

And her mouth was very bitter with the ashes;                                      [19:1]
Her eyes with dust were blinded; and her sorrow
Sobbed in the throat of her like gurgling water.

And all around the voiceless hills were hoary,
And a red light scorched their edges; and above her                             [20:2]
There was a soundless trouble of the cloud-reek.                                 [20:3]

‘Whither, and, oh, whither,’ said the woman,                                       [21:1]
‘O Spirit of the LORD, hast thou conveyed them—                               [21:2]
My little ones, my little son and daughter?

‘For, lo! we wandered forth at early morning,
And winds were blowing round us, and their mouths
Blew rose-buds to the rose-buds, and their eyes

‘Looked violets at the violets, and their hair

Made a sunshine in the sunshine, and their passing                               [23:2]
Left a pleasure in the dewy leaves behind them;

‘And suddenly my little son looked upward,                                          228
And his eyes were dried like dew-drops; and his going
Was like a blow of fire upon my face.

‘And my little son was gone. My little daughter
Looked round me for him, clinging to my vesture;
But the LORD had blown him from me, and I knew it                           [25:3]

‘By the sign He gives the stricken that the lost one                               [26:1]
Lingers nowhere on the earth on hill or valley,                                      [26:2]
Neither underneath the grasses or the tree-roots.                                 [26:3]

‘And my shriek was like the splitting of an ice-reef,
And I sank among my hair, and all my palm
Was moist and warm where the little hand had filled it.

‘Then I fled and sought him wildly hither—thither—                             [28:1]
Though I knew that he was stricken from me wholly
By the token that the spirit gives the stricken.                                       [28:3]

‘I sought him in the sunlight and the starlight,
I sought him in the forests, and in waters                                              [29:2]
Where I saw mine own pale image looking at me.

‘And I forgot my little bright-haired daughter,                                        229
Though her voice was like a wild bird far behind me,                           [30:2]
Till the voice ceased, and the universe was silent.

‘And stilly, in the starlight, came I backward
To the forest where I missed him; and no voices
Brake the stillness as I stooped down in the starlight,

‘And saw two little shoes filled up with dew,
And no mark of little footsteps any farther,
And knew my little daughter had gone also.’

*

The world was very quiet. Men in traffic
Cast looks over their shoulders; pallid seamen
Went wild to walk upon the decks alone;                                            [33:3]

And women barred their doors with bars of iron,
In the silence of the night; and at the sunrise
Shivered behind their husbandmen afield.                                             [34:3]

Only the children sported very stilly,                                                      230
And grew paler and still paler, and drew closer
Unto their mothers as they wox the older.

I could not see a kirkyard near or far;
I thirsted for a green grave, and my vision
Was hungry for the white gleam of a tombstone.                                  [36:3]

But hearkening dumbly, ever and anon
I heard a cry out of a human dwelling,
And felt the cold wind of a lost one’s going.

One struck a brother fiercely, and he fell,
And faded in a darkness; and that other
Tore his hair, and was afraid, and could not perish.

One struck his aged mother on the mouth,
And she vanished with a gray grief from her hearth-stone.                    [39:2]
One melted from her bairn, and on the ground

The bairn lay smiling up, with pink curled fingers.                                 [40:1]
And many made a weeping among mountains,
And hid themselves in caverns, and were drunken.

And I heard a voice from out the beauteous earth,                               [41:1]
Whose side rolled up from winter into summer,
Crying, ‘I am grievous for my children.’

And I heard a voice from out the dreadful ocean,                           232  [42:1]
Crying, ‘Burial in the breast of me were better,
Yea, burial in the salt flags and green crystals.’

And I heard a voice from out the hollow ether                                     [43:1]
Saying, ‘The thing ye cursed hath been abolished,—
Corruption, and decay, and dissolution!’

And the world shrieked, and the summer-time was bitter,
And men and women feared the air behind them,                                 [44:2]
And for lack of its green graves the world was hateful.

*

But beasts died; yea, the cattle in the yoke,
The milk-cow in the meadow, and the sheep,
And the dog upon the door-step; and men envied.

And birds died; yea, the eagle at the sun-gate,
The swan upon the waters, and the farm-fowl,
And the swallows on the house-tops; and men envied.

And reptiles; yea, the toad upon the road-side,                             233 [47:1]
The slimy speckled snake among the grass,                                         [47:2]
The lizard on the ruin; and men envied.

The dog in lonely places cried not over
The body of his master; but it missed him,
And whined into the air, and died, and rotted.

And the traveller’s horse lay swollen in the pathway,                            [49:1]
And the blue fly fed upon it; but no traveller
Was there,—yea, not his footprint on the ground.                                [49:3]

And the cat mewed in the midnight, and the blind                           234  [50:1]
Gave a rustle, and the lamp burnt blue and faint,—                              [50:2]
And the father’s bed was empty in the morning.

And the mother fell to sleep beside the cradle,                                     [51:1]
Rocking it while she slumbered with her foot,                                       [51:2]
And wakened,—and the cradle there was empty.

I saw a two-years’ child, and he was playing;                                      [52:1]
And he found a dead white bird upon the doorway,
And laughed, and ran to show it to his mother.

And the mother moaned, and clutched him, and was bitter,                  [53:1]
And flung the dead white bird across the threshold,                              [53:2]
And another white bird flitted round and round it,

And uttered a sharp cry, and twittered, and twittered,                          [54:1]
And lit beside its dead mate, and grew busy,
Strewing it over with green leaves and yellow.

*

So far, so far to seek for were the limits                                                235
Of affliction; and men’s terror grew a homeless
Terror, and a fatal sense of blankness.                                                 [55:3]

There was no little token of distraction,
There was no visible presence of bereavement,
Such as the mourner easeth out his heart on.

There was no comfort of the slow farewell,                                          [57:1]
Nor gentle shutting of belovéd eyes,
Nor beautiful broodings over sleeping features.

There were no kisses on familiar faces,
No weaving of pure grave-clothes, no last pondering                           [58:2]
Over the still wax cheeks and folded fingers.

There was no putting tokens under pillows,
There was no dreadful beauty slowly fading                                         [59:2]
From the vision, slowly fading into darkness,—                                   [59:3]

So slowly, that, when it doth vanish wholly,
The heart is ready with its tears and outlet,
And parting can be borne with, though so bitter.

There were no churchyard paths to walk on, thinking                           236
How near the well-belovéd ones are lying;                                           [61:2]
There were no sweet green graves to sit and muse on,

Till grief should grow a summer meditation,
The shadow of the passing of an Angel,                                               [62:2]
And sleeping should seem easy and not cruel.                                      [62:3]

Nothing but wondrous parting and a blankness.

*

And I woke, and, lo! the burthen was uplifted,                                     [64:1]
And I prayed within the chamber where she slumbered,
And my tears flowed fast and free, but were not bitter.

I eased my heart three days by watching near her,
And made her pillow sweet with scent and flowers,
And could bear at last to put her in the darkness.

And I heard the kirk-bells ringing very slowly,
And the priests were in their vestments; and the earth                           [66:2]
Dripped awful on the hard wood, yet I bore it.

And I cried, ‘O unseen Sender of corruption!                                237  [67:1]
I bless Thee for the wonder of Thy mercy,
Wherein Thou helpest us to lose our loved ones.                                  [67:3]

‘I bless Thee for the change and for the comfort,
The fixéd face, shut eyes, and waxen fingers;                                       [68:2]
For sleeping, and for silence and corruption.                                        [68:3]

‘I bless Thee that she slumbers underneath me,
I bless Thee for the place that will be cheerful
When the winter of mine agony is over.’

                                                                                                            238

III.

AS in the snowy stillness,
Where the stars shine greenly
     In a mirror of ice,
The reindeer abideth alone,                                                        [1:4]
And fleeth swiftly                                                                       [1:5]
From her following shadow
     In the moon,—
I speed for ever
From the shape abhorréd                                                           [1:9]
That my mind projects,                                                             [1:10]
And my soul believes;                                                               [1:11]
And I loom for ever
Through desolate regions
Of wondrous thought;
And I fear the thing
That follows me,
And cannot escape it
     Night or day.

Doth thy wingéd lightning                                                            [2:1]
Strike, O Master!
The reindeer flying                                                                240  [2:3]
     Her shade?                                                                           [2:4]
Will Thy wrath pursue me,
Because I cannot
Escape the shadow
Of the thing I am?

I have pried and pondered,
I have agonized,
I have sought to find Thee,
     Yet still must roam,
Affrighted, fleeing Thee,
Chased by the shadow
Of the thing I am,
Through desolate regions
Of wondrous thought!

                                                                                                  241

IV.

BECAUSE Thou art beautiful,
Because Thou art mysterious,
     Because Thou art strong,
Or because Thou art shadowy,                                                   [1:4]
Shall my soul worship Thee,
     O thou Unseen One?

As men bow to monarchs,
As servants to masters,                                                              [2:2]
     Shall I bow to Thee?
As one that is fearful,
As one that is insolent,
     Shall I pray to Thee?

Wert Thou a demigod,
Wert Thou an angel,
     Prayer-worship might serve;                                                  [3:3]
To Thee, most beautiful,
Wondrous, mysterious,                                                               242
     How shall it avail?

Thou art not a monarch,                                                             [4:1]
Thou art not a master,—                                                            [4:2]
     Why should I bow to Thee?
I am not fearful,
I am not insolent,—
     Why should I pray to Thee?

Enough, if Thou beest,                                                                 [5:]
Gently and humanly
     To ask if Thou art?
To worship and wonder at,
Pray to and strive with,
     The wonders which be?

                                                                                                            243

V.

SOUL AND BODY.

MY Soul, thou art wed
To a perishable thing,
But death shall dissolve                                                              [1:3]
Thee and thy slimy mate.                                                            [1:4]
If thou wilt reap wings,                                                               [1:5]
Take all thy mate can give:                                                          [1:6]

The touch of the smelling dead                                                    [2:1]
The kiss of the maiden’s mouth,
The sorrow, the hope, the fear,
That floweth along her flesh:                                                       [2:4]
Take all, nor be afraid;
Cling close to thy mortal mate!

So shalt thou duly wring
Out of thy foul embrace                                                              [3:2]
The hunger and thirst whereof
The Master maketh thee wings,                                            244  [3:4]
The beautiful wondrous yearning,                                                [3:5]
The mighty thirst to endure.

Be not afraid, my soul,                                                               [4:1]
To leave thy mate at last,
Though thou shalt learn in time                                                    [4:3]
To love each other well;
But put her gently down
In the earth beneath thy feet.

And dry thine eyes, and hasten                                                   [5:1]
To the imperishable springs;
And it shall be well for thee,                                                       [5:3]
In the beautiful Master’s sight,
If it be found in the end
Thou hast used her tenderlie.                                                      [5:6]

                                                                                                  245

VI.

MASTER, if there be Hell,                                                       [1:1]
     All men are bereaven!
If, in the universe,
One spirit receive the curse,                                                       [1:4]
     How is there Heaven?                                                           [1:5]
If there be hell for one,                                                               [1:6]
Thou, Master, art undone.

Were I a soul in heaven,                                                             [2:1]
     Afar from pain,
Yea, on Thy breast of snow,
At the scream of one below
     I should scream again.
Art Thou less piteous than
The conception of a man?                                                          [2:7]

                                                                                                  246

VII.

HE heard a voice, ‘How should GOD pardon sin?                               [1:1]
How should He save the sinner with the sinless?’                                  [1:2]
That would be ill: the LORD my GOD is just.                                          [1:3]

Further he heard, ‘How shall GOD pardon lust?                                    [2:1]
How should he smile on the adulteress?’                                               [2:2]
That would be ill: the LORD my GOD is just.                                          [2:3]

Further he heard, ‘How should GOD pardon blood?                             [3:1]
How should the murtherer have a place in heaven
Beside the innocent life he took away?’

And GOD was on His throne; and in a dream                                        [4:1]
Saw small things making figures out of clay,                                          [4:2]
Shapen like men, and calling them GOD’s justice.                                  [4:3]

And saw the shapes look up into His eyes,                                           [5:1]
Exclaiming, ‘Thou dost ill to save this man;
Damn Thou this woman, and curse this cutthroat, LORD!’                      [5:3]

GOD dreamt this, and His dreaming was the world;                         247  [6:1]
And Thou and I are dreams within His dream;                                      [6:2]
And nothing dieth GOD hath dreamt or thought.

                                                                                                           248

VIII.

‘SAD, and sweet, and wise,
     Here a babe reposes;                                                            [1:2]
Dust is on his eyes,
Quietly he lies,—
     Satan, strew roses!’                                                              [1:5]

Weeping low, creeping slow,
     Came the weary-wingéd;                                                      [2:2]
Roses red over the dead
     Quietly he flingéd.

‘I am old,’ he thought,
     ‘And the world’s day closes,                                                 [3:2]
Pale and fever-wrought.                                                             [3:3]
Darkly have I wrought                                                                [3:4]
     These blood-red roses.’                                                        [3:5]

By his side the mother came,                                                      [4:1]
     Shudderingly creeping;
The Devil’s and the woman’s heart                                             249
     Bitterly were weeping.

‘Sweet he came, and swift he flew;                                             [5:1]
     Hopeless he reposes:                                                            [5:2]
Waiting on is weary too,—
Wherefore on his grave we strew
     Bitter withering roses.’                                                          [5:5]

The Devil gripped the woman’s heart,
     With gall he staunched its bleeding.                                        [6:2]
Far away beyond the day                                                           [6:3]
     The LORD heard interceding.

‘LORD GOD, One in Three!
     Sure Thy anger closes:                                                          [7:2]
Yesterday I died, and see
The weary-wingéd over me                                                        [7:4]
     Bitterly streweth roses!’                                                        [7:5]

The voice cried out, ‘Rejoice! rejoice!
     There shall be sleep for evil;’                                                 [8:2]
And all the sweetness of GOD’s voice
     Passed rustling through the Devil.                                           [8:4]

                                                                                                  250

IX.

IN the time of my tribulation                                                      [1:1]
Melt me, Master, like snow;
Melt me, dissolve me, exhale me,                                               [1:3]
Into thy wool-white cloud;                                                          [1:4]
With a warm wind blow me upward
Over the hills and the seas,
And upon a summer morning
Poise me over the valley
Of Thy mellow yellow realm;                                                      [1:9]
Then, for a wondrous moment,
Watch me from infinite space
With Thy round red eyeball of sunlight,                                      [1:12]
And melt and dissolve me downward
In the beautiful silver rain                                                           [1:14]
That drippeth musically,
With a gleam like starlight and moonlight,                                   [1:16]
On the footstool of Thy throne.                                                 [1:17]

[Notes:
‘Celtic Mystics’ was extensively revised by Buchanan for inclusion in ‘The Book of Orm’, published in 1870.
The following alterations therefore refer to the changes in the relevant passages in the 1870 version of ‘The Book of Orm’:

Part I of ‘Celtic Mystics’ corresponds to the first part of ‘Songs of Corruption’, the third section of ‘The Book of Orm’.
The subtitle, ‘PHANTASY’ is added.
v. 2, l. 4: Her breath is dried like dew;—
v. 2, l. 6: Disturbeth her not;
v. 3, l. 11: When on her living lips
v. 3, l. 12: Thy freezing finger was laid.
v. 4, l. 1: What art thou—
v. 4, l. 2: Art thou God’s Angel?
v. 4, l. 10: Or art thou the fatal air?
[The inclusion of an illustration after v. 5, l. 11, indicates a verse break, however in the 1870 version the break is omitted, then reinstated in the 1884 edition of ‘The Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan’.]
v. 6, l. 4: Should cast a shadow as vast as thine;
v. 6, l. 10: Fadeth far away
v. 6, l. 12: omitted

Part II of ‘Celtic Mystics’ corresponds to the second part of ‘Songs of Corruption’, the third section of ‘The Book of Orm’.
Subtitle changed to ‘THE DREAM OF THE WORLD WITHOUT DEATH’
v. 1, l. 1: Now, sitting by her side, worn out with weeping,
v. 2, l. 3: And beckoneth back the angel men name Death.
v. 3, l. 1: And at His feet the mighty Angel kneeleth,
v. 3, l. 3: Saying, ‘Thy wanderings on earth are ended.’
verse 4 omitted
verse 5 omitted
v. 6, l. 1: And lo! the mighty Shadow sitteth idle
v. 6, l. 3: Drowsily looking in on quiet waters,
[The verse break after verse 6, line 3 occurs at a page break in the 1870 version and is omitted in the 1884 edition of ‘The Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan’.]
The section comprising verses 33 - 34 and 36 - 44 is inserted after ‘verse 7’
v. 8, l. 1: Now at the bottom of a snowy mountain
v. 8, l. 2: I came upon a woman thin with sorrow,
v. 9, l. 1: Saying, “O Angel of the Lord, come hither,
v. 9, l. 2: And bring me him I seek for on thy bosom,
v. 9, l. 3: That I may close his eyelids and embrace him.
v. 11, l. 2: And very sweet she seemed, and near unto me;
v. 11, l. 3: And slipping flowers into her shroud was comfort.
v. 16, l. 1: “But to reach out empty arms is surely dreadful,
v. 16, l. 2: And to feel the hollow empty world is awful,
v. 17, l. 3: And nothing but a horror and a blankness!’
v. 18, l. 1: Now behold I saw a woman in a mud-hut
v. 18, l. 3: And fouling her bright hair with the white ashes.
v. 19, l. 1: Her mouth was very bitter with the ashes;
v. 20, l. 2: But red light scorched their edges; and above her
v. 20, l. 3: There was a soundless trouble of the vapours.
v. 21, l. 1: “Whither, and O whither,” said the woman,
v. 21, l. 2: “O Spirit of the Lord, hast thou conveyed them,
v. 23, l. 2: Made sunshine in the sunshine, and their passing
v. 25, l. 3: But the Lord had drawn him from me, and I knew it
v. 26, l. 1: ‘By the sign He gives the stricken, that the lost one
v. 26, l. 2: Lingers nowhere on the earth, on hill or valley,
v. 26, l. 3: Neither underneath the grasses nor the tree-roots.
v. 28, l. 1: “Then I fled and sought him wildly, hither and thither—
v. 28, l. 3: By the token that the Spirit gives the stricken.
v. 29, l. 2: I sought him in great forests, and in waters
v. 30, l. 2: Though her voice was like a wild-bird’s far behind me,
[The section comprising verses 33 - 34 and 36 - 44 is inserted after the break following ‘verse 7’]
v. 33, l. 3: Shiver’d to walk upon the decks alone;
v. 34, l. 3: Trembled behind the husbandmen afield.
verse 35 omitted
v. 36, l. 3: Was weary for the white gleam of a tombstone.
v. 39, l. 2: And she vanished with a gray grief from his hearth-stone.
v. 40, l. 1: With sweet unconscious eyes the bairn lay smiling.
v. 41, l. 1: I heard a voice from out the beauteous earth,
v. 42, l. 2: I heard a voice from out the hoary ocean,
v. 43, l. 1: I heard a voice from out the hollow ether,
v. 44, l. 2: And men and women feared the air behind them;
v. 47, l. 1: And reptiles; yea, the toad upon the roadside,
v. 47, l. 2: The slimy, speckled snake among the grass,
v. 49, l. 1: The traveller’s horse lay swollen in the pathway,
v. 49, l. 3: Was there; nay, not his footprint on the ground.
v. 50, l. 1: The cat mewed in the midnight, and the blind
v. 50, l. 2: Gave a rustle, and the lamp burnt blue and faint,
v. 51, l. 1: The mother fell to sleep beside the cradle,
v. 51, l. 2: Rocking it, while she slumbered, with her foot,
v. 52, l. 1: I saw a two-year’s child, and he was playing;
v. 53, l. 1: The mother moaned, and clutched him, and was bitter,
v. 53, l. 2: And flung the dead white bird across the threshold;
v. 54, l. 1: And uttered a sharp cry, and twittered and twittered,
v. 55, l. 3: Terror, yea, and a fatal sense of blankness.
v. 57, l. 1: There was no comfort in the slow farewell,
v. 58, l. 2: No weaving of white grave-clothes, no last pondering
v. 59, l. 2: There was no dreadful beauty slowly fading,
v. 59, l. 3: Fading like moonlight softly into darkness.
verse 60 omitted
v. 61, l. 2: How near the well-beloved ones are lying.
v. 62, l. 2: The shadow of the passing of an angel,
v. 62, l. 3: And slepping should seem easy, and not cruel.
v. 64, l. 1: line split (with verse break) in 1870 version - But I woke.
                                                                                                                   And, lo! the burthen was uplifted,
                  1884 version: But I awoke, and, lo! the burthen was uplifted,
v. 66, l. 2: And the priests were in their vestments, and the earth
v. 67, l. 1: And I cried, “O unseen Sender of Corruption,
v. 67, l. 3: Which softeneth the mystery and the parting.
v. 68, l. 2: The bloomless face, shut eyes, and waxen fingers,—
v. 68, l. 3: For Sleeping, and for Silence, and Corruption.’
verse 69 omitted

Part III of ‘Celtic Mystics’ corresponds to the second part of ‘Songs of Seeking’, the fifth section of ‘The Book of Orm’.
The subtitle, ‘QUEST’ is added.
v. 1, l. 4: The Reindeer abideth alone,
v. 1, l. 5: And speedeth swiftly
v. 1, l. 9: From the mystic shape
v. 1, l. 10: That my life projects,
v. 1, l. 11: And my soul perceives;
v. 2, l. 1: Doth Thy wingëd lightning
v. 2, l. 3: The timid Reindeer
v. 2, l. 4: Flying her shade?

Part IV of ‘Celtic Mystics’ corresponds to the fourth part of ‘Songs of Seeking’, the fifth section of ‘The Book of Orm’.
The subtitle, ‘O UNSEEN ONE!’ is added.
v. 1, l. 4: Or because Thou art pitiless,
v. 2, l. 2: As slaves to their owners,
v. 3, l. 3: Lip-worship might serve;
v. 4, l. 1: Thou art not a demigod,
v. 4, l. 2: Thou art not a monarch,—
The final verse differs completely and is as follows:
O Spirit of mountains!
Strong Master of Waters!
     Strange Shaper of clouds!
When these things worship Thee,
I too will worship Thee,
     O Maker of Men!

Part V of ‘Celtic Mystics’ corresponds to the third part of ‘Songs of Corruption’, the third section of ‘The Book of Orm’.
Subtitle changed to ‘SOUL AND FLESH’.
v. 1, l. 3: But death from thy strange mate
v. 1, l. 4: Shall sever thee full soon,
v. 1, l. 5: If thou wilt reap wings
v. 1, l. 6: Take all the Flesh can give:
v. 2, l. 1: The touch of the smelling dead,
v. 2, l. 4: That floweth along the veins:
v. 3, l. 2: Out of thy long embrace
v. 3, l. 4: The Master maketh thee wings,—
v. 3, l. 5: The beautiful, wondrous yearning,
v. 4, l. 1: Be not afraid, my Soul,
v. 4, l. 3: Though ye shall learn in time
v. 5, l. 1: And dry thine eyes and hasten
v. 5, l. 3: And it shall be well for thee
v. 5, l. 6: Thou hast used her tenderly.

Part VI of ‘Celtic Mystics’ corresponds to the ninth part of ‘Songs of Seeking’, the fifth section of ‘The Book of Orm’.
The subtitle, ‘DOOM’ is added.
v. 1, l. 1: Master, if there be Doom,
v. 1, l. 4: One Spirit receive the curse,
v. 1, l. 5: Alas for Heaven!
v. 1, l. 6: If there be Doom for one,
v. 2, l. 1: Were I a Soul in heaven,
v. 2, l. 7: The conception of a Man?

Part VII of ‘Celtic Mystics’ corresponds to the tenth part of ‘Songs of Seeking’, the fifth section of ‘The Book of Orm’.
The subtitle, ‘GOD’S DREAM’ is added.
v. 1, l. 1: I hear a voice, ‘How should God pardon sin?
v. 1, l. 2: How should He save the sinner with the sinless?
v. 1, l. 3: That would be ill: the Lord my God is just.’
v. 2, l. 1: Further I hear, ‘How should God pardon lust?
v. 2, l. 2: How should He comfort the adulteress?
v. 2, l. 3: That would be foul: the Lord my God is pure.’
v. 3, l. 1: Further I hear, ‘How should God pardon blood?
v. 4, l. 1: And God is on His throne; and in a dream
v. 4, l. 2: Sees mortals making figures out of clay,
v. 4, l. 3: Shapen like men, and calling them God’s angels.
v. 5, l. 1: And sees the shapes look up into His eyes,
v. 5, l. 3: Damn Thou this woman, and curse this cut-throat, Lord!’
v. 6, l. 1: God dreams this, and His dreaming is the world;
v. 6, l. 2: And thou and I are dreams within His dream;

Part VIII of ‘Celtic Mystics’ corresponds to the ninth part of ‘The Devil’s Mystics’, the seventh section of ‘The Book of Orm’.
The subtitle, ‘ROSES’ is added.
v. 1, l. 2: Here a child reposes,
v. 1, l. 5: Satan, strew Roses!’
v. 2, l. 2: Came the Weary-wingëd!
v. 3, l. 2: ‘And the world’s day closes;
v. 3, l. 3: Pale and fever-fraught,
v. 3, l. 4: Sadly have I brought
v. 3, l. 5: These blood-red Roses.’
v. 4, l. 1: By his side the mother came
v. 5, l. 1: ‘Swift he came and swift he flew,
v. 5, l. 2: Hopeless he reposes;
v. 5, l. 5: Bitter, withering Roses.’
v. 6, l. 2: With gall he staunched its bleeding;
v. 6, l. 3: Far away, beyond the day,
v. 7, l. 2: Sure Thy anger closes;
v. 7, l. 4: The Weary-wingëd over me
v. 7, l. 5: Bitterly streweth Roses.’
v. 8, l. 2: There shall be sleep for evil!’
v. 8, l. 4: Passed strangely through the Devil.

Part IX of ‘Celtic Mystics’ corresponds to the twelth part of ‘The Devil’s Mystics’, the seventh section of ‘The Book of Orm’.
The subtitle, ‘HIS PRAYER’ is added.
v. 1, l. 1: In the time of transfiguration,
v. 1, l. 3: Melt me, dissolve me, inhale me
v. 1, l. 4: Into Thy wool-white cloud;
v. 1, l. 9: Of Thy mellow, mellow realm;
v. 1, l. 12: With Thy round red Eyeball of sunlight,
v. 1, l. 14: In the beautiful silver Rain
v. 1, l. 16: With a gleam like Starlight and Moonlight,
v. 1, l. 17: On the footstool of Thy Throne.]

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LONDON: GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS.
THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE.

Buchanan endpapers

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North Coast and other Poems Contents