Share:
  Guess poet | Poets | Poets timeline | Isles | Contacts

Amy Levy - A Minor PoetAmy Levy - A Minor Poet
Work rating: Low


"What should such fellows as I do,    Crawling between earth and heaven?" Here is the phial; here I turn the key Sharp in the lock. Click!—there`s no doubt it turned. This is the third time; there is luck in threes— Queen Luck, that rules the world, befriend me now And freely I`ll forgive you many wrongs! Just as the draught began to work, first time, Tom Leigh, my friend (as friends go in the world), Burst in, and drew the phial from my hand, (Ah, Tom! ah, Tom! that was a sorry turn!) And lectured me a lecture, all compact Of neatest, newest phrases, freshly culled From works of newest culture: "common good ;" "The world`s great harmonies;""must be content With knowing God works all things for the best, And Nature never stumbles." Then again, "The common good," and still, "the common, good;" And what a small thing was our joy or grief When weigh`d with that of thousands. Gentle Tom, But you might wag your philosophic tongue From morn till eve, and still the thing`s the same: I am myself, as each man is himself— Feels his own pain, joys his own joy, and loves With his own love, no other`s. Friend, the world Is but one man; one man is but the world. And I am I, and you are Tom, that bleeds When needles prick your flesh (mark, yours, not mine). I must confess it; I can feel the pulse A-beating at my heart, yet never knew The throb of cosmic pulses. I lament The death of youth`s ideal in my heart; And, to be honest, never yet rejoiced In the world`s progress—scarce, indeed, discerned; (For still it seems that God`s a Sisyphus With the world for stone).                    You shake your head. I`m base, Ignoble? Who is noble—you or I? I was not once thus? Ah, my friend, we are As the Fates make us.                    This time is the third; The second time the flask fell from my hand, Its drowsy juices spilt upon the board; And there my face fell flat, and all the life Crept from my limbs, and hand and foot were bound With mighty chains, subtle, intangible; While still the mind held to its wonted use, Or rather grew intense and keen with dread, An awful dread—I thought I was in Hell. In Hell, in Hell ! Was ever Hell conceived By mortal brain, by brain Divine devised, Darker, more fraught with torment, than the world For such as I? A creature maimed and marr`d From very birth. A blot, a blur, a note All out of tune in this world`s instrument. A base thing, yet not knowing to fulfil Base functions. A high thing, yet all unmeet For work that`s high. A dweller on the earth, Yet not content to dig with other men Because of certain sudden sights and sounds (Bars of broke music; furtive, fleeting glimpse Of angel faces `thwart the grating seen) Perceived in Heaven. Yet when I approach To catch the sound`s completeness, to absorb The faces` full perfection, Heaven`s gate, Which then had stood ajar, sudden falls to, And I, a-shiver in the dark and cold, Scarce hear afar the mocking tones of men: "He would not dig, forsooth ; but he must strive For higher fruits than what our tillage yields; Behold what comes, my brothers, of vain pride!" Why play with figures? trifle prettily With this my grief which very simply`s said, "There is no place for me in all the world"? The world`s a rock, and I will beat no more A breast of flesh and blood against a rock. . . A stride across the planks for old time`s sake. Ah, bare, small room that I have sorrowed in; Ay, and on sunny days, haply, rejoiced; We know some things together, you and I! Hold there, you rangèd row of books ! In vain You beckon from your shelf. You`ve stood my friends Where all things else were foes; yet now I`ll turn My back upon you, even as the world Turns it on me. And yet—farewell, farewell! You, lofty Shakespere, with the tattered leaves And fathomless great heart, your binding`s bruised Yet did I love you less? Goethe, farewell; Farewell, triumphant smile and tragic eyes, And pitiless world-wisdom!                   For all men These two. And `tis farewell with you, my friends, More dear because more near: Theokritus; Heine that stings and smiles; Prometheus` bard; (I`ve grown too coarse for Shelley latterly:) And one wild singer of to-day, whose song Is all aflame with passionate bard`s blood Lash`d into foam by pain and the world`s wrong. At least, he has a voice to cry his pain; For him, no silent writhing in the dark, No muttering of mute lips, no straining out Of a weak throat a-choke with pent-up sound, A-throb with pent-up passion. . .                    Ah, my sun! That`s you, then, at the window, looking in To beam farewell on one who`s loved you long And very truly. Up, you creaking thing, You squinting, cobwebbed casement!                    So, at last, I can drink in the sunlight. How it falls. Across that endless sea of London roofs, Weaving such golden wonders on the grey, That almost, for the moment, we forget The world of woe beneath them.                    Underneath, For all the sunset glory, Pain is king. Yet, the sun`s there, and very sweet withal; And I`ll not grumble that it`s only sun, But open wide my lips—thus—drink it in; Turn up my face to the sweet evening sky (What royal wealth of scarlet on the blue So tender toned, you`d almost think it green) And stretch my hands out—so—to grasp it tight. Ha, ha! `tis sweet awhile to cheat the Fates, And be as happy as another man. The sun works in my veins like wine, like wine! `Tis a fair world: if dark, indeed, with woe, Yet having hope and hint of such a joy, That a man, winning, well might turn aside, Careless of Heaven . . .                    O enough; I turn From the sun`s light, or haply I shall hope. I have hoped enough; I would not hope again: `Tis hope that is most cruel.                    Tom, my friend, You very sorry philosophic fool; `Tis you, I think, that bid me be resign`d, Trust, and be thankful.                    Out on you! Resign`d? I`m not resign`d, not patient, not school`d in To take my starveling`s portion and pretend I`m grateful for it. I want all, all, all; I`ve appetite for all. I want the best: Love, beauty, sunlight, nameless joy of life. There`s too much patience in the world, I think. We have grown base with crooking of the knee. Mankind—say—God has bidden to a feast; The board is spread, and groans with cates and drinks; In troop the guests; each man with appetite Keen-whetted with expectance.                    In they troop, Struggle for seats, jostle and push and seize. What`s this? what`s this? There are not seats for all! Some men must stand without the gates; and some Must linger by the table, ill-supplied With broken meats. One man gets meat for two, The while another hungers. If I stand Without the portals, seeing others eat Where I had thought to satiate the pangs Of mine own hunger; shall I then come forth When all is done, and drink my Lord`s good health In my Lord`s water? Shall I not rather turn And curse him, curse him for a niggard host? O, I have hungered, hungered, through the years, Till appetite grows craving, then disease; I am starved, wither`d, shrivelled.                    Peace, O peace! This rage is idle; what avails to curse The nameless forces, the vast silences That work in all things.                    This time is the third, I wrought before in heat, stung mad with pain, Blind, scarcely understanding; now I know What thing I do.                    There was a woman once; Deep eyes she had, white hands, a subtle smile, Soft speaking tones: she did not break my heart, Yet haply had her heart been otherwise Mine had not now been broken. Yet, who knows? My life was jarring discord from the first: Tho` here and there brief hints of melody, Of melody unutterable, clove the air. From this bleak world, into the heart of night, The dim, deep bosom of the universe, I cast myself. I only crave for rest; Too heavy is the load. I fling it down. EPILOGUE. We knocked and knocked; at last, burst in the door, And found him as you know—the outstretched arms Propping the hidden face. The sun had set, And all the place was dim with lurking shade. There was no written word to say farewell, Or make more clear the deed.                    I search`d and search`d; The room held little: just a row of books Much scrawl`d and noted; sketches on the wall, Done rough in charcoal; the old instrument (A violin, no Stradivarius) He played so ill on; in the table drawer Large schemes of undone work. Poems half-writ; Wild drafts of symphonies; big plans of fugues; Some scraps of writing in a woman`s hand: No more—the scattered pages of a tale, A sorry tale that no man cared to read. Alas, my friend, I lov`d him well, tho` he Held me a cold and stagnant-blooded fool, Because I am content to watch, and wait With a calm mind the issue of all things. Certain it is my blood`s no turbid stream; Yet, for all that, haply I understood More than he ever deem`d; nor held so light The poet in him. Nay, I sometimes doubt If they have not, indeed, the better part— These poets, who get drunk with sun, and weep Because the night or a woman`s face is fair. Meantime there is much talk about my friend. The women say, of course, he died for love; The men, for lack of gold, or cavilling Of carping critics. I, Tom Leigh, his friend I have no word at all to say of this. Nay, I had deem`d him more philosopher; For did he think by this one paltry deed To cut the knot of circumstance, and snap The chain which binds all being?
Source

The script ran 0.003 seconds.