My Comrade and I
WE two have grown up so divinely together,
Flower within flower from seed within seed,
The sagest astrologer cannot say whether
His being or mine was first shaped and decreed.
In the life before birth, by inscrutable ties,
We were linked each to each ; I am bound up in him :
He sickens, I languish ; without me he dies ;
I am life of his life, he is limb of my limb.
Flower within flower from seed within seed,
The sagest astrologer cannot say whether
His being or mine was first shaped and decreed.
In the life before birth, by inscrutable ties,
We were linked each to each ; I am bound up in him :
He sickens, I languish ; without me he dies ;
I am life of his life, he is limb of my limb.
Twin babes from one cradle, I tottered about with him,
Chased the bright butterflies, singing, a boy with him ;
Still as a man I am borne in and out with him,
Sup with him, sleep with him, suffer, enjoy with him.
Faithful companion, me long he has carried
Unseen in his bosom, a lamp to his feet;
More near than a bridegroom, to him I am married,
As light in the sunbeam is wedded to heat.
Chased the bright butterflies, singing, a boy with him ;
Still as a man I am borne in and out with him,
Sup with him, sleep with him, suffer, enjoy with him.
Faithful companion, me long he has carried
Unseen in his bosom, a lamp to his feet;
More near than a bridegroom, to him I am married,
As light in the sunbeam is wedded to heat.
If my beam be withdrawn, he is senseless and blind;
I am sight to his vision, I hear with his ears ;
His the marvellous brain, I the masterful mind ;
I laugh with his laughter and weep with his tears
So well that the ignorant deem us but one :
They see but one shape and they name us one name.
O pliant accomplice ! what deeds we have done,
Thus banded together for glory or shame !
I am sight to his vision, I hear with his ears ;
His the marvellous brain, I the masterful mind ;
I laugh with his laughter and weep with his tears
So well that the ignorant deem us but one :
They see but one shape and they name us one name.
O pliant accomplice ! what deeds we have done,
Thus banded together for glory or shame !
When evil waylays us, and passion surprises,
And we are too feeble to strive or to fly,
When hunger compels or when pleasure entices,
Which most is the sinner, my comrade or I ?
And when over perils and pains and temptations
I triumph, where still I should falter and faint,
But for him, iron-nerved for heroical patience,
Whose then is the virtue, and which is the saint ?
And we are too feeble to strive or to fly,
When hunger compels or when pleasure entices,
Which most is the sinner, my comrade or I ?
And when over perils and pains and temptations
I triumph, where still I should falter and faint,
But for him, iron-nerved for heroical patience,
Whose then is the virtue, and which is the saint ?
Am I the one sinner ? of honors sole claimant
For actions which only we two can perform ?
Am I the true creature, and thou but the raiment ?
Thou magical mantle, all vital and warm,
Wrapped about me, a screen from the rough winds of Time,
Of texture so flexile to feature and gesture !
Can ever I part from thee ? Is there a clime
Where Life needeth not this terrestrial vesture ?
For actions which only we two can perform ?
Am I the true creature, and thou but the raiment ?
Thou magical mantle, all vital and warm,
Wrapped about me, a screen from the rough winds of Time,
Of texture so flexile to feature and gesture !
Can ever I part from thee ? Is there a clime
Where Life needeth not this terrestrial vesture ?
When comes the sad summons to sever the sweet
Subtle tie that unites us, and tremulous, fearful,
I feel thy loosed fetters depart from my feet;
When friends gathered round us, pale-visaged and tearful,
Beweep and bewail thee, thou fair earthly prison !
And kiss thy cold doors, for thy inmate mistaken ;
Their eyes seeing not the freed captive, arisen
From thy trammels unclasped and thy shackles downshaken ;
Subtle tie that unites us, and tremulous, fearful,
I feel thy loosed fetters depart from my feet;
When friends gathered round us, pale-visaged and tearful,
Beweep and bewail thee, thou fair earthly prison !
And kiss thy cold doors, for thy inmate mistaken ;
Their eyes seeing not the freed captive, arisen
From thy trammels unclasped and thy shackles downshaken ;
O, then shall I linger, reluctant to break
The dear sensitive chains that about me have grown ?
And all this bright world, can I bear to forsake
Its embosoming beauty and love, and alone
Journey on to I know not what regions untried ?
Exists there, beyond the dim cloud-rack of death,
Such life as enchants us ? O skies arched and wide !
O delicate senses ! O exquisite breath !
The dear sensitive chains that about me have grown ?
And all this bright world, can I bear to forsake
Its embosoming beauty and love, and alone
Journey on to I know not what regions untried ?
Exists there, beyond the dim cloud-rack of death,
Such life as enchants us ? O skies arched and wide !
O delicate senses ! O exquisite breath !
Ah, tenderly, tenderly over thee hovering,
I shall look down on thee empty and cloven,
Pale mould of my being! — thou visible covering
Wherefrom my invisible raiment is woven.
Though sad be the passage, nor pain shall appall me,
Nor parting, assured, wheresoever I range
The glad fields of existence, that naught can befall me
That is not still beautiful, blessed, and strange.
I shall look down on thee empty and cloven,
Pale mould of my being! — thou visible covering
Wherefrom my invisible raiment is woven.
Though sad be the passage, nor pain shall appall me,
Nor parting, assured, wheresoever I range
The glad fields of existence, that naught can befall me
That is not still beautiful, blessed, and strange.