maanantai 24. tammikuuta 2011

Shatt'ring Sound, Op. 25

Once I lived in this lofty castle,
Lived and loved below its ivory towers,
Made merry amongst its rosal bowers,
And felt my feelings below its silver spires.
'Twas a domain of desolation,
And while I stayed, for some duration,
Never another kindly soul did present,
Their presence for my apprasing eye,
And none approached, nor did ever try.
'Twas no marble, and no limestone,
Just plain walls rising from the ground,
Overlooking a river, atop this or that mound,
And though the rivulet was followed by a green trail,
Afar from the stream not a tree did stand,
There were no gardens man had not planned,
And all that rose was what gusts blow'd from dust.
It's not to say 'twas not fine a stay,
Or that never rose from east a joy-filled day,
Far from it; and if ever would exquisite taste,
Decide to baser earth again manifest its glory,
It would not undo one acre of that territory.
The spires reached heaven, heaven reached back;
Gargoyles were not, but instead seraphim;
While interior was gold, silver was the rim;
The ramparts plain only in this company.
Architects would've cried of joy, artists wept,
If one summer night within it they could've slept;
And many an eye would've left a man blind,
Had it emerged only vagrant eyes could it behold;
And misers should crowd the entrance with their gold,
Yet none do, for no Croesus can bribe its door.
There did I stay, yet why inside,
Who was the careless master who'd let me abide?
That I cannot fathom, nor can I tell; truth be told,
I was lost and desolate like the land where I came,
Wounded and forgotten, we were both perhaps the same,
As one spring day I collapsed before the gates,
And lo! next day woke from within the fort.
No nurse attended me, it was an empty court,
Empty was the yard, silent all the cloisters,
All that echoed there was from my boot,
And to minsterless castle this was the lute;
All bardship there was when I thump'd my shoes.
Soon like an intruder accustomed to all,
I wandered my way from hall to hall,
Like I'd once wander'd on life's great board,
Reminiscent how all its roles I'd had to learn;
Pawn, bishop, tower; all 'cept the king, in turn.
Next morning fleeing to its verdant gardens,
My solace was now where shadows painted night,
In bright tones of summer's virulent light,
Palette in tow, sketching autumn over eve,
And darkness over light, onto emerald canvas.
Alone I enjoyed my treat, and many a witty remark,
In silence spent, did dissipate in that park.
My only company, which not unwilling did move,
Was up-high, and arching my neck she'd meet my eye,
A herald of splendour, an Eagle would sail the sky,
And in rare occassion trumpet her exalted triumph.
In the gardens I slept, and there each day awake,
Then, on leafy table my palatial meals I'd make,
And come midday, I strolled all the antechambers,
All crimson the carpets would shout me welcome,
And I answered, as if emperor I'd already become.
My empire the castle, my palace was here too,
And next I announced the trophyroom was my throne,
And all the trophies but visitors in my home.
'Twas a strange stay, and peculiar too the furniture,
Classic and baroque intermingled with the orient,
And though strange, even indeed this dissent
Was compatible mongrel, a creature from creative pen.
Below that arching dome, that scarcely seemed
To fit behind the walls, the following menagerie teemed:
One grand table there dominated the room,
Unclothed, its imposing ebony was bare-laid,
And while carved with masterful hand it displayed
The features of world, and all its wonders there were mapped;
Around the construct, twenty chairs gaunt and frail,
Circled the rectangle in meticulous detail,
And they too, were ornamented and carveed so and so,
That snakes and chimaeras seemed to coil round their feet;
Then, the walls were with cupboards and closets replete,
And these like sentinels seemed to me,
Their contents exhibiting all the world's wonders,
- Or mayhaps, thousands years worth of plunders.
Finally, above all, a crystal crown was hanged,
And in it all the gems and diamonds were made of glass,
Yet, touched by evening light, seemed the original surpass.
Though none was present, all then seemed alive,
And those dusty wooden dolls more so than I.
There, in the farthest corner under diamond-light,
I found me a shelf filled with rarest delight,
A collection of jeweled figurines haphazardly placed,
Danced fore my appraising eyes, and each one of them,
So fine, that eternity hid behind each and every gem.
Though I recognised all, I could not realise none,
And all pleasure forgetting, made them habit to examine;
One after other, day by day; I shut myself within.
First was a whole world that took the shape of a city,
But so complex, that thousand cities seemed condenced into one;
Second was a quasar or star-like sun,
So vibrant it sure belied some colours still unfound;
Third was a mansion, with pallid and lovely frame,
But lo! The mansion and I, were the very same!
Others too, which have no name, as all and every angel
And demon too, could've fit that gallery, yet none do,
For they have no names, 'cept those I named, and they're few.
Autumn arrived and passed, came winter's gale,
Wonder's thinned; soon I'd had seen them all,
Though still strong the chains that did me thrall,
My pleasure now did tint a disquitude.
One evening when long shadows over light were thrown,
I made to grasp with my hand the last unknown,
And set it up-high, fore I'd set it to my eye,
Yet hear me now and hear me well: 'twas the time,
That suddenly a strong and stunning sound did chime,
I know not the indentity of that offending source,
Had the blast of winter broken one mosaic display,
Or was it the Eagle, having now cried it last assay?
I can't tell; I was struck, and suprised thorougly;
I was lost and bewildered, and my hand slacked;
Horrified I saw how the last wonder met earth and cracked.
The sound it made was sparkling and heaven-pure,
Yet shattering all the same, and then all riven,
Not the castle but I, from my august heights driven,
I shouted my all till the empty air, fore I left forever,
Asking of the strange force that did animate me,
And vowed not to return fore the answer I'd come to see.

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