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AT LONG LAST the forest lay behind, Before stretched a desert, bleak and empty, Beyond, a mountain, dim in the dancing haze, Reaching upward, defeating measure. I sat resting in the shade of the forest-rim, The last cool stream at my feet. Deeply I drank refreshment and pondered: Long had the journey been and Weary In the maze and the dark of the forest, Oft bad I drifted down false lanes, Oft had courage been shaken, Yet I never quite failed to try again And at last the dim trails were finished. Behind lay desires, vain and incomplete, Ambitions inadequate, yearnings now stilled; Before, reaching all but endlessly, A dreary waste, trailess and void of sign. It seemed I beheld the Goal, dim in the distance, But, again, It seemed not there. Was uncertain possibility worth the effort? Could anything be worth the cost Paid, and yet remaining to be paid? Oh! for the rest without ending, If not the rest of Victory, Then the surcease of defeat, But in any Case rest. Thus I pondered while si new strength grew And resolution again was born Of the ashes of burned desires and yearnings. Methought: "Better onward continue, Else all this effort uncompleted Useless would lie in the void of vain endeavor. If thought of achievement thrills no longer, Yet 'twere better to complete the half-finished. Behind lie values exhausted and lost, No longer potent ro 'rouse the soul That, in vision, a Beyond hath glimpsed. Onward alone lieth hope To fill the void." At last I arose, resolution firm, Gathered my staff and compass— Sole possessions of die final hour— And strode me forth beyond visible trail. Ere long the forest behind me vanished, Consumed in refracting desert haze; Then all about the emptiness of burning waste. On I journeyed in time-expanding void, Unafraid, but weary with the seeming endlessness; On I journeyed o'er rock And sand and thorn, Alone in the stillness that is nor Peace; On I journeyed, thirsting ever more and more For refreshing waters of the forest past recall; Yet on I journeyed as thirst grew numb, The mountain, haze consumed, as the forest. And time, my tread less resolute became; The void without become likewise a void within, All endeavor unavailing. I sank me down upon a rock, Caring nought, accepting what might be. Then spoke the VOICE, In accents strong, cheering, comforting, Calling from out the Beyond, Telling of the Glory There, Recalling the need of forest wanderers. Within me a new courage grew, a new determination. Once more I 'rose, onward moving, Feeling more clear, though not yet seeing The ancient Mount of untellble Majesty. The desert journey, all but finished, Now lay behind. Already the slopes, mounting in steeper gradient, Promise of final fulfillment offered. Steeper grew the Way, bur easier, Strange poradox of a World, inverting former values. Quickly I ascended, filled with strength Born downward from Beyond. The haze grew thin and vanished. Then, before me, immeasurable Largeness, Buttresses of the ancient Mountain; Height rising on height, beyond all vision. Filled anew with cheer and rich assurance, Fast I climbed, until at last Above me stretched th awful cliff, Transcending the final reach of thought. Here I lingered but briefest hour, Extracting from though its inmost core, Seeking the Power above all powers. Success crowned effort beyond all hope And, as it were, in Time's briefest instant, Outreaching time and space and cause, I rose To unthinkable heights beyond unthinkable heights, Finding at last the ancient Home, Long forgotten, yet Known so well. Gone was the forest-world, a new World mine; Joy untellable Knowledge all-consuming, Eternity stretching everywhere; Not anywhere aught but I Sustaining all universes, Their origin, and consummation. Darkness of it LIGHT Enveloping all. II Darkness, Silence, Voidness, utter, At once, Fullness in every sense; Deeps beyond seeing, beyond feeling, beyond thought; At the inmost Core of all I AM, Sustaining all, not different from all. Untellable ages, a moment of time, All time, but one moment there. From the inmost Core, descending—downward, Outward— Distances immeasurable I came, 'Till finding the Thought unutterable, Here, lingering, I dwelt for a season, Thinking what could not Say, Understanding transcending human conceiving, Pure Meaning close-packed and o'erflowing, Containing of libraries the substance all And more, ne'er yet told. Filled to the brim, I descended, down through the haze, Which, ever inclosing the world below, Holds dispart the Mountain Top From the nether world of outer life. Gone was the desert and forest-maze, Scenes of age-old wanderings. The Way to Heights ineffable a mystery no more, A new mystery spread below. Seething multitudes rushing to and fro O'er far-reaching plane; Bent over, searching the earht, Grubbing here and there, ne'er still Driven as slaves, joyless and dull, Seeking the Gold, finding dross. One here, one there, standing in pause Looking upward, eyes dim with pain, Yearning, questioning, searching, Nor Knowing, yet hungering. These, aliens all in a foreign land; Their Home forgotten, yet dimly recalled As the memory of distant dream. I stood upon a lofty Field At the edge of thought articulate, Pondering the scene below, Rcalling the days I, too, was there Seeking blindly for I knew not what; Remembering effort—misdirected, barren of harvest. All these my brothers are, All these, not different from Me; I, Free, yet not wholly Free, While these, bound, remain, travailing. Questioning, I pondered their sad estate, Wondering how amight release For all be won. Then gazing about me, on that lofty Field, Beheld I a Glorious Company Of Men, rare, Divinely Noble, All striving ceaselessly in deep Compassion With multitudes far below. From These, methought I saw Rays of Light, out-reaching and down, Search-lights seeking quickened hearts and minds. Then peering close, beheld I those who Pausing, raised their eyes in questing, hungering search, Each enveloped in Search-Light Ray. Along these Beams a Call forth-send Arousing to fuller wakefulness Ancient Memory. Some, responding, gropingly to seek began, Hunting the dim-felt but unseen Light, Greatly tripping, meandering hither and yon, Yet falteringly drawing nearee and nearer. Then spoke the Voice, well loved, From out an ancient Day, another Life, Uttering words of counsel sage. "Thou would'st of this harvest share, Of souls drawn Home to Peace and Joy? Then seek again the way In yon fields below. None knows the final secret of human soul, So ever We try and try again, In every way, old memory to 'rouse. Go forth and try thy way." So again I pondered the trials I knew, The effort wasted, eudeavor fruitless, The final Success, the Key thereto. Methought: " 'Tis needless, the journey so hard should be. A little turn here, another there, And many a barrier and morass deep, Easily surmounted will be. I shall tell of the Way Which at last I found, That others in a clearer Light tray See." So I drew a chart, the best I knew, And here it is for all Who, wandering in forest and desert drear, Wish that a clearer Way might revealed be. |