FullReads

I would have added–‘is all here amiss?–‘
But a voice answered–‘Life!’–I turned, and knew 180
(O Heaven, have mercy on such wretchedness!)

That what I thought was an old root which grew
To strange distortion out of the hill side,
Was indeed one of those deluded crew,

And that the grass, which methought hung so wide 185
And white, was but his thin discoloured hair,
And that the holes he vainly sought to hide,

Were or had been eyes:–‘If thou canst forbear
To join the dance, which I had well forborne,’
Said the grim Feature, of my thought aware, 190

‘I will unfold that which to this deep scorn
Led me and my companions, and relate
The progress of the pageant since the morn;

‘If thirst of knowledge shall not then abate,
Follow it thou even to the night, but I 195
Am weary.’–Then like one who with the weight

Of his own words is staggered, wearily
He paused; and ere he could resume, I cried:
‘First, who art thou?’–‘Before thy memory,

‘I feared, loved, hated, suffered, did and died, 200
And if the spark with which Heaven lit my spirit
Had been with purer nutriment supplied,

‘Corruption would not now thus much inherit
Of what was once Rousseau,–nor this disguise
Stain that which ought to have disdained to wear it; 205

‘If I have been extinguished, yet there rise
A thousand beacons from the spark I bore’–
‘And who are those chained to the car?’–‘The wise,

‘The great, the unforgotten,–they who wore
Mitres and helms and crowns, or wreaths of light, 210
Signs of thought’s empire over thought–their lore

‘Taught them not this, to know themselves; their might
Could not repress the mystery within,
And for the morn of truth they feigned, deep night

‘Caught them ere evening.’–‘Who is he with chin 215
Upon his breast, and hands crossed on his chain?’–
‘The child of a fierce hour; he sought to win

‘The world, and lost all that it did contain
Of greatness, in its hope destroyed; and more
Of fame and peace than virtue’s self can gain 220

‘Without the opportunity which bore
Him on its eagle pinions to the peak
From which a thousand climbers have before

‘Fallen, as Napoleon fell.’–I felt my cheek
Alter, to see the shadow pass away, 225
Whose grasp had left the giant world so weak

That every pigmy kicked it as it lay;
And much I grieved to think how power and will
In opposition rule our mortal day,

And why God made irreconcilable 230
Good and the means of good; and for despair
I half disdained mine eyes’ desire to fill

With the spent vision of the times that were
And scarce have ceased to be.–‘Dost thou behold,’
Said my guide, ‘those spoilers spoiled, Voltaire, 235

‘Frederick, and Paul, Catherine, and Leopold,
And hoary anarchs, demagogues, and sage–
names which the world thinks always old,

‘For in the battle Life and they did wage,
She remained conqueror. I was overcome 240
By my own heart alone, which neither age,