The Voice of the Valley/The Voice of the Valley
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Song of Day
in Yosemite Valley
Song of Day in Yosemite Valley
O thunderous opening of the unseen gate of solemn Heaven's Eternal Court!
Behold, clouds, tenants of the sky, sweep down from the Heavens unto a secret palace under the Earth!—
Aye, mighty Yosemite!—a glorious troop of the unsuffering souls of gods
Marches on with battle-sound against the unknown castle of Hell!—
Aye, a divine message of Heaven unto Earth—the darksome house of mortals—to awake!
Hark—the heart-broken cry of a great Soul!—
Nay, the tempestuous song of Heaven's organ throbbing wild peace through the sky and land!
The Shout of Hell wedded to the Silence of Heaven completes the Valley concert, forms the true symphony—
The Female-light kissing the breast of the the Male-shadow chants the sacred Union!
I, a muse from the Orient, where is revealed the light of dawn
Harken to the welcome strains of genii from the heart of the great Sierras—
I repose under the forest-boughs that invoke the Deity's hymn from the Nothing-air.
Here, brother mortal, lies the path, like Beauty's arm, guiding thee into the Heaven afar!—
Alone I stray by the mountain walls that support the enameled mirror-sky,
Enfolding my free-born soul in the vice-purifying odors of the forest from an unknown corner of Paradise.
Art thirsty?—here rolls the snow-robed water for thy fulfillment;
Does dullness veil thee?—here a stone chamber invites thee into the world of dreams through an unseen door.
O return, brother mortal, from Samsara unto the great Valley!
Yea, the mighty Temple of the World, everlasting with the heaven and earth, welcomes thee!
Behold! Yosemite, sermoning Truth and Liberty, battles in spirit with the Pacific Ocean afar!
O unfading wonder, eternal glory! I pray a redemption from the majesty that chains me—
(Lo, Hell offers a great edifice unto Heaven!) O, I bid my envy and praise rest against thee;
I am content in the sounding Silence, in the powerless Time that holds the Valley in the age of gold;
I proffer my stainful body and leprous soul with blackest shame unto thee;
I am united with the Universe, and the Universe with me.
O hail, brother mortal! the true joy is revealed unto thee—
Be thou a wave ebbing and flowing with the air of Heaven!
Behold! The genii of the forest chant Peace unto the Lord from an unknown shrine in the Valley temple.
O mighty chapel of God! Thou knowest not an iron chariot stained with hostile blood;—
Aye, idle spears and foolish shields dare not ruin thee, proclaiming War in Eternity!
Behold, clouds, tenants of the sky, sweep down from the Heavens unto a secret palace under the Earth!—
Aye, mighty Yosemite!—a glorious troop of the unsuffering souls of gods
Marches on with battle-sound against the unknown castle of Hell!—
Aye, a divine message of Heaven unto Earth—the darksome house of mortals—to awake!
Hark—the heart-broken cry of a great Soul!—
Nay, the tempestuous song of Heaven's organ throbbing wild peace through the sky and land!
The Shout of Hell wedded to the Silence of Heaven completes the Valley concert, forms the true symphony—
The Female-light kissing the breast of the the Male-shadow chants the sacred Union!
I, a muse from the Orient, where is revealed the light of dawn
Harken to the welcome strains of genii from the heart of the great Sierras—
I repose under the forest-boughs that invoke the Deity's hymn from the Nothing-air.
Here, brother mortal, lies the path, like Beauty's arm, guiding thee into the Heaven afar!—
Alone I stray by the mountain walls that support the enameled mirror-sky,
Enfolding my free-born soul in the vice-purifying odors of the forest from an unknown corner of Paradise.
Art thirsty?—here rolls the snow-robed water for thy fulfillment;
Does dullness veil thee?—here a stone chamber invites thee into the world of dreams through an unseen door.
O return, brother mortal, from Samsara unto the great Valley!
Yea, the mighty Temple of the World, everlasting with the heaven and earth, welcomes thee!
Behold! Yosemite, sermoning Truth and Liberty, battles in spirit with the Pacific Ocean afar!
O unfading wonder, eternal glory! I pray a redemption from the majesty that chains me—
(Lo, Hell offers a great edifice unto Heaven!) O, I bid my envy and praise rest against thee;
I am content in the sounding Silence, in the powerless Time that holds the Valley in the age of gold;
I proffer my stainful body and leprous soul with blackest shame unto thee;
I am united with the Universe, and the Universe with me.
O hail, brother mortal! the true joy is revealed unto thee—
Be thou a wave ebbing and flowing with the air of Heaven!
Behold! The genii of the forest chant Peace unto the Lord from an unknown shrine in the Valley temple.
O mighty chapel of God! Thou knowest not an iron chariot stained with hostile blood;—
Aye, idle spears and foolish shields dare not ruin thee, proclaiming War in Eternity!
Song of Night
in Yosemite Valley
Song of Night in Yosemite Valley
Hark! The prophecy-inciting windquake of the unfathomable concave of darkest Hell!
O, the God-scorning demon's shout against the truth-locked gate of mighty Heaven!
Heaven and Hell joining their palace and dungeon, remould the sinful universe to an ethereal paradise—
O, the sphere is shaken by the Master-Mechanic working from the surface of the world to its center!
Alas, the sun has fled in saddest woe!—O mortal, breathe thy silent prayer unto mighty Yosemite for mirth!
Behold, the light of day leaves the white mansion to the care of dolorous night!—
The genii of the Valley fly from the roar of a thousand lions to the sacred peace above—
Lo, an unknown jeweler decks the black, velvety heaven with treasure-stars—
Yea, the Mother-Goddess, mantling the earth with the night, forbids Yosemite disturb her baby-angel's dream in the heaven!
Hark! the night disconcord of the eternal falling of waters sounding discontent throughout the earth—
O, a chariot is rushing down to an unknown hollow in wild triumph!
Behold, a dragon reveals divinity in the ghostly-odorous sky of night—
Nay, the mighty sword of the Judgment Day blazes down the Heaven to the gate of Hell!
O, the God-scorning demon's shout against the truth-locked gate of mighty Heaven!
Heaven and Hell joining their palace and dungeon, remould the sinful universe to an ethereal paradise—
O, the sphere is shaken by the Master-Mechanic working from the surface of the world to its center!
Alas, the sun has fled in saddest woe!—O mortal, breathe thy silent prayer unto mighty Yosemite for mirth!
Behold, the light of day leaves the white mansion to the care of dolorous night!—
The genii of the Valley fly from the roar of a thousand lions to the sacred peace above—
Lo, an unknown jeweler decks the black, velvety heaven with treasure-stars—
Yea, the Mother-Goddess, mantling the earth with the night, forbids Yosemite disturb her baby-angel's dream in the heaven!
Hark! the night disconcord of the eternal falling of waters sounding discontent throughout the earth—
O, a chariot is rushing down to an unknown hollow in wild triumph!
Behold, a dragon reveals divinity in the ghostly-odorous sky of night—
Nay, the mighty sword of the Judgment Day blazes down the Heaven to the gate of Hell!
In the Valley
In the Valley
The Sierra-rock, a tavern for the clouds, refuses to let Fame and Gold sojourn.—
Down the Heaven by the river-road, an angel's ethereal shadow strays.—
The Genii in the Valley-cavern consult in silence the message of the Heavens.
O Lord, show unto mortals thy journal—the balance of Glory and Decay!
Down the Heaven by the river-road, an angel's ethereal shadow strays.—
The Genii in the Valley-cavern consult in silence the message of the Heavens.
O Lord, show unto mortals thy journal—the balance of Glory and Decay!
The Night Reverie
in the Forest
The Night Reverie in the Forest
"Buy my tears that I sucked from the breast of Truth—tears, sister spirits of Heaven's smile!" sobs the Wind.
Thou pale Wind, tear-vender of the hideous night, no one welcomes thee with thy unsold tears!
Thou Gipsy-Wind, my fellow-wanderer who fears light, cease thy plaintive strain of the sweet home ever lost!
"O Poet, sole midnight comforter, share my tears in thy heart ever tenanted by Autumn!"
Kiss me, Wind, to whom the gates of Spring never swing open, let us sleep under the weeping candle-star!
O Repose, whose bosom harbors the heavenly dream-ships, welcome me, an exiled soul!
Thou Forest, where Peace and Liberty divide their wealth with even a homeless convict,
Let me sleep in thy arm-boughs, safer far than a king's iron castle guarded by mortal power!
Lull thy guest to reverie, master-spirit of the forest, with thy solemn love-tales of ancient gods!
Here Ease and Grandeur lodge in the forest's heart, where Time ever reveals his changeless youth.
Five miles I traveled—the black-robed bird-monk had ended his last prayer, a good-night hymn;
Ten miles,—I lost the home window-light that bids Sorrow and Tears depart like masterless dogs;
Twenty miles,—the eloping mother-moon had abandoned her child, my lonely soul.
Thou Darkness, bewailing thy desertion by Light, I deplore my like fate, echoing thy saddest strain!—
Friend Night, my tears overflow from the love-fountain unto the sorrow-made dells!
I, an idle singer, fleeing from the world's shame, make a pilgrimage to an unknown land—O Heaven—or Hell?
Thou Silence, who never responds to mortal's voice, where is the secret door of Paradise?—Speak once unto me!
O Star, thou radiant spirit of the blessed Beatrice who once guided a mortal unto Heaven, brighten now my darksome path!
I, a lone pilgrim, knock at the gate of Heaven—nay, the silent castle of Repose—O Repose!
Rhyme on, Lady-Rivulet from thy mountain Memnon, thy tunable song awakening mortals' vanity-dreams!
Ah, Nakedness! Nakedness—to whom Shame and Pride are buried in the peaceful tomb of Faith!
Ah, Loneliness! Loneliness—to whom a boatman of God is the sole savior on the vast Sea of Eternity!
I repose under the forest's arm-boughs—if I awaken not forever, pray, brother mortal,
Make my grave under the greenest grass and carve this line: "Here sleeps a nameless Poet."
Thou pale Wind, tear-vender of the hideous night, no one welcomes thee with thy unsold tears!
Thou Gipsy-Wind, my fellow-wanderer who fears light, cease thy plaintive strain of the sweet home ever lost!
"O Poet, sole midnight comforter, share my tears in thy heart ever tenanted by Autumn!"
Kiss me, Wind, to whom the gates of Spring never swing open, let us sleep under the weeping candle-star!
O Repose, whose bosom harbors the heavenly dream-ships, welcome me, an exiled soul!
Thou Forest, where Peace and Liberty divide their wealth with even a homeless convict,
Let me sleep in thy arm-boughs, safer far than a king's iron castle guarded by mortal power!
Lull thy guest to reverie, master-spirit of the forest, with thy solemn love-tales of ancient gods!
Here Ease and Grandeur lodge in the forest's heart, where Time ever reveals his changeless youth.
Five miles I traveled—the black-robed bird-monk had ended his last prayer, a good-night hymn;
Ten miles,—I lost the home window-light that bids Sorrow and Tears depart like masterless dogs;
Twenty miles,—the eloping mother-moon had abandoned her child, my lonely soul.
Thou Darkness, bewailing thy desertion by Light, I deplore my like fate, echoing thy saddest strain!—
Friend Night, my tears overflow from the love-fountain unto the sorrow-made dells!
I, an idle singer, fleeing from the world's shame, make a pilgrimage to an unknown land—O Heaven—or Hell?
Thou Silence, who never responds to mortal's voice, where is the secret door of Paradise?—Speak once unto me!
O Star, thou radiant spirit of the blessed Beatrice who once guided a mortal unto Heaven, brighten now my darksome path!
I, a lone pilgrim, knock at the gate of Heaven—nay, the silent castle of Repose—O Repose!
Rhyme on, Lady-Rivulet from thy mountain Memnon, thy tunable song awakening mortals' vanity-dreams!
Ah, Nakedness! Nakedness—to whom Shame and Pride are buried in the peaceful tomb of Faith!
Ah, Loneliness! Loneliness—to whom a boatman of God is the sole savior on the vast Sea of Eternity!
I repose under the forest's arm-boughs—if I awaken not forever, pray, brother mortal,
Make my grave under the greenest grass and carve this line: "Here sleeps a nameless Poet."