The Bridge of Fire

Belus and Ra and that most jealous LordWho rolled the hosts of Pharaoh in the sea,Giants and Trolls, in every hand a sword,Gnomes and Dwarfs and the Spectral Company,Gods that take vengeance, Gods that grant reward,Gods that exact a murdered devotee,Buddha the Wise, and Siva the Abhorred,And Norns that tend Ygdrasil, fatal tree,And Isis of the MoonWho kept the stars in tune,With her mad Phrygian sister, Cybele,And Mithras swift to saveThe faithful and the brave,And Allah rumbling on to victory,—Behold! and oldest of them all,Square heads that leer and lust, and lizard shapes that crawl.

The astral light grows dim upon the dales,As he who loved the sinner and the child,Before whose beauty still the tyrant quailsComes by alone, a quiet man and mild.The voice of all reproach is fixed and fails;The heart is willing to be reconciled.Was it his work, the groaning in the jails?When bodies writhed and wept, could he have smiled?Be strong, undaunted soul,To break the aureole:Release our chain, but leave him unreviled.Though sweet the lily blowsThe fire upon the roseAlone shall guide thee on the bitter wild,At last to find no Lotus land,But one where Truth may touch thee dying with sweet hand.

Between the pedestals of Night and Morning,Between red Death and radiant Desire,With clamour of delight and doubt and warningThe High Gods stand upon the Bridge of Fire.O Soul, lay down thy pride, and cease adorningThy brows with laurel or with gold thy lyre!The wheels of Time are turning, turning, turning;The slow Stream waits for thee, the stagnant Mire.The Dreamer and his DreamShall struggle in the StreamSunless and unredeemable for ever,Since this the Gods command,That he who leaves their landShall travel down to that relentless River."O Master of the World," I cry,"Save me from fear of Death: I dare not die."