Percy Bysshe Shelley - Prince Athanase Part II lyrics

FRAGMENT 1 Prince Athanase had one beloved friend, An old, old man, with hair of silver white, And lips where heavenly smiles would hang and blend With his wise words; and eyes whose arrowy light Shone like the reflex of a thousand minds. He was the last whom superstition's blight Had spared in Greece—the blight that cramps and blinds,— And in his olive bower at Oenoe Had sate from earliest youth. Like one who finds A fertile island in the barren sea, One mariner who has survived his mates Many a drear month in a great ship—so he With soul-sustaining songs, and sweet debates Of ancient lore, there fed his lonely being:— 'The mind becomes that which it contemplates,'— And thus Zonoras, by for ever seeing Their bright creations, grew like wisest men; And when he heard the crash of nations fleeing A bloodier power than ruled thy ruins then, O sacred Hellas! many weary years He wandered, till the path of Laian's glen Was gra**-grown—and the unremembered tears Were dry in Laian for their honoured chief, Who fell in Byzant, pierced by Moslem spears:— And as the lady looked with faithful grief From her high lattice o'er the rugged path, Where she once saw that horseman toil, with brief And blighting hope, who with the news of d**h Struck body and soul as with a mortal blight, She saw between the chestnuts, far beneath, An old man toiling up, a weary wight; And soon within her hospitable hall She saw his white hairs glittering in the light Of the wood fire, and round his shoulders fall; And his wan visage and his withered mien, Yet calm and gentle and majestical. And Athanase, her child, who must have been Then three years old, sate opposite and gazed In patient silence. FRAGMENT 2 Such was Zonoras; and as daylight finds One amaranth glittering on the path of frost, When autumn nights have nipped all weaker kinds, Thus through his age, dark, cold, and tempest-tossed, Shone truth upon Zonoras; and he filled From fountains pure, nigh overgrown and lost, The spirit of Prince Athanase, a child, With soul-sustaining songs of ancient lore And philosophic wisdom, clear and mild. And sweet and subtle talk they evermore, The pupil and the master, shared; until, Sharing that undiminishable store, The youth, as shadows on a gra**y hill Outrun the winds that chase them, soon outran His teacher, and did teach with native sk** Strange truths and new to that experienced man; Still they were friends, as few have ever been Who mark the extremes of life's discordant span. So in the caverns of the forest green, Or on the rocks of echoing ocean hoar, Zonoras and Prince Athanase were seen By summer woodmen; and when winter's roar Sounded o'er earth and sea its blast of war, The Balearic fisher, driven from shore, Hanging upon the peaked wave afar, Then saw their lamp from Laian's turret gleam, Piercing the stormy darkness, like a star Which pours beyond the sea one steadfast beam, Whilst all the constellations of the sky Seemed reeling through the storm…They did but seem— For, lo! the wintry clouds are all gone by, And bright Arcturus through yon pines is glowing, And far o'er southern waves, immovably Belted Orion hangs—warm light is flowing From the young moon into the sunset's chasm.— 'O, summer eve! with power divine, bestowing 'On thine own bird the sweet enthusiasm Which overflows in notes of liquid gladness, Filling the sky like light! How many a spasm 'Of fevered brains, oppressed with grief and madness, Were lulled by thee, delightful nightingale,— And these soft waves, murmuring a gentle sadness,— 'And the far sighings of yon piny dale Made vocal by some wind we feel not here.— I bear alone what nothing may avail 'To lighten—a strange load!'—No human ear Heard this lament; but o'er the visage wan Of Athanase, a ruffling atmosphere Of dark emotion, a swift shadow, ran, Like wind upon some forest-bosomed lake, Gla**y and dark.—And that divine old man Beheld his mystic friend's whole being shake, Even where its inmost depths were gloomiest— And with a calm and measured voice he spake, And, with a soft and equal pressure, pressed That cold lean hand:—'Dost thou remember yet When the curved moon then lingering in the west 'Paused, in yon waves her mighty horns to wet, How in those beams we walked, half resting on the sea? 'Tis just one year—sure thou dost not forget— 'Then Plato's words of light in thee and me Lingered like moonlight in the moonless east, For we had just then read—thy memory 'Is faithful now—the story of the feast; And Agathon and Diotima seemed From d**h and dark forgetfulness released…' FRAGMENT 3 And when the old man saw that on the green Leaves of his opening … a blight had lighted He said: 'My friend, one grief alone can wean A gentle mind from all that once delighted:— Thou lovest, and thy secret heart is laden With feelings which should not be unrequited.' And Athanase … then smiled, as one o'erladen With iron chains might smile to talk (?) of bands Twined round her lover's neck by some blithe maiden, And said… FRAGMENT 4 'Twas at the season when the Earth upsprings From slumber, as a sphered angel's child, Shadowing its eyes with green and golden wings, Stands up before its mother bright and mild, Of whose soft voice the air expectant seems— So stood before the sun, which shone and smiled To see it rise thus joyous from its dreams, The fresh and radiant Earth. The hoary grove Waxed green—and flowers burst forth like starry beams;— The gra** in the warm sun did start and move, And sea-buds burst under the waves serene:— How many a one, though none be near to love, Loves then the shade of his own soul, half seen In any mirror—or the spring's young minions, The winged leaves amid the copses green;— How many a spirit then puts on the pinions Of fancy, and outstrips the lagging blast, And his own steps—and over wide dominions Sweeps in his dream-drawn chariot, far and fast, More fleet than storms—the wide world shrinks below, When winter and despondency are past. FRAGMENT 5 'Twas at this season that Prince Athanase Pa**ed the white Alps—those eagle-baffling mountains Slept in their shrouds of snow;—beside the ways The waterfalls were voiceless—for their fountains Were changed to mines of sunless crystal now, Or by the curdling winds—like brazen wings Which clanged along the mountain's marble brow— Warped into adamantine fretwork, hung And filled with frozen light the chasms below. Vexed by the blast, the great pines groaned and swung Under their load of [snow]— … … Such as the eagle sees, when he dives down From the gray deserts of wide air, [beheld] [Prince] Athanase; and o'er his mien (?) was thrown The shadow of that scene, field after field, Purple and dim and wide… FRAGMENT 6 Thou art the wine whose drunkenness is all We can desire, O Love! and happy souls, Ere from thy vine the leaves of autumn fall, Catch thee, and feed from their o'erflowing bowls Thousands who thirst for thine ambrosial dew;— Thou art the radiance which where ocean rolls Investeth it; and when the heavens are blue Thou fillest them; and when the earth is fair The shadow of thy moving wings imbue Its deserts and its mountains, till they wear Beauty like some light robe;—thou ever soarest Among the towers of men, and as soft air In spring, which moves the unawakened forest, Clothing with leaves its branches bare and bleak, Thou floatest among men; and aye implorest That which from thee they should implore:—the weak Alone kneel to thee, offering up the hearts The strong have broken—yet where shall any seek A garment whom thou clothest not? the darts Of the keen winter storm, barbed with frost, Which, from the everlasting snow that parts The Alps from Heaven, pierce some traveller lost In the wide waved interminable snow Ungarmented,… ANOTHER FRAGMENT (A) Yes, often when the eyes are cold and dry, And the lips calm, the Spirit weeps within Tears bitterer than the blood of agony Trembling in drops on the discoloured skin Of those who love their kind and therefore perish In ghastly torture—a sweet medicine Of peace and sleep are tears, and quietly Them soothe from whose uplifted eyes they fall But… ANOTHER FRAGMENT (B) Her hair was brown, her sphered eyes were brown, And in their dark and liquid moisture swam, Like the dim orb of the eclipsed moon; Yet when the spirit flashed beneath, there came The light from them, as when tears of delight Double the western planet's serene flame.