INDIRECTION

RICHARD REALF

RICHARD REALF (1834-1878) was a poet of English birth who came to America in 1854, and later served in our Civil War.

Fair are the flowers and the children, but their subtle suggestion is fairer;

Rare is the rose-burst of dawn, but the secret that clasps it is rarer;

5 Sweet the exultance of song, but the strain that precedes it is sweeter;

And never was poem yet writ, but the meaning outmastered the meter.

Never a daisy that grows, but a mystery guideth the growing;

Never a river that flows, but a majesty scepters the

flowing;

Never a Shakespeare that soared, but a stronger than he did enfold him;

10 Never a prophet foretells, but a mightier seer hath foretold him.

Back of the canvas that throbs the painter is hinted and

hidden;

Into the statue that breathes the soul of the sculptor is

bidden;

Under the joy that is felt lie the infinite issues of feeling; Crowning the glory revealed is the glory that crowns the revealing.

Great are the symbols of being, but that which is symboled is greater;

Vast the create and beheld, but vaster the inward Creator; Back of the sound broods the silence; back of the gift 5 stands the giving;

Back of the hand that receives thrill the sensitive nerves of receiving.

Space is as nothing to spirit; the deed is outdone by the

doing;

The heart of the wooer is warm; but warmer the heart of the wooing;

And up

from the pits where these shiver, and up from the heights where those shine,

Twin voices and shadows swim starward, and the essence 10

SIR GALAHAD

ALFRED TENNYSON

My good blade carves the casques of men,
My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten,
Because my heart is pure.

The shattering trumpet shrilleth high,
The hard brands shiver on the steel,
The splintered spear-shafts crack and fly,
The horse and rider reel :

They reel, they roll in clanging lists,
And when the tide of combat stands,
Perfume and flowers fall in showers,

That lightly rain from ladies' hands.

How sweet are looks that ladies bend
On whom their favors fall!
For them I battle till the end,

To save from shame and thrall:
But all my heart is drawn above,

My knees are bowed in crypt and shrine;
I never felt the kiss of love,

Nor maiden's hand in mine.

More bounteous aspects on me beam,

Me mightier transports move and thrill;

So keep I fair thro' faith and prayer,
A virgin heart in work and will.

When on my goodly charger borne
Thro' dreaming towns I go,

The cock crows ere the Christmas morn,
The streets are dumb with snow.

The tempest crackles on the leads,

And, ringing, springs from brand and mail; But o'er the dark a glory spreads,

And gilds the driving hail.

I leave the plain, I climb the height;
No branchy thicket shelter yields;
But blessed forms in whistling storms
Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields.

A maiden knight-to me is given

Such hope, I know not fear;

I yearn to breathe the airs of heaven
That often meet me here.

I muse on joy that will not cease,

Pure spaces clothed in living beams, Pure lilies of eternal peace,

Whose odors haunt my dreams; And, stricken by an angel's hand,

This mortal armor that I wear,

This weight and size, this heart and eyes,

Are touched, are turned to finest air.

10

10

The clouds are broken in the sky,
And thro' the mountain walls
A rolling organ harmony

Swells up and shakes and falls.
Then move the trees, the copses nod,
Wings flutter, voices hover clear:
"O just and faithful knight of God!
Ride on the prize is near."

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So pass

I hostel, hall, and grange;

By bridge and ford, by park and pale,
All armed I ride, whate'er betide,

Until I find the Holy Grail.

brand: sword. What other poet makes frequent use of this word? lists: an enclosed field where tournaments were held. Ladies attended these knightly combats and rewarded the victors.—the leads: roofs were frequently covered with sheets of lead, and were therefore called "leads." the Holy Grail: the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper. The search for this cup was the coveted mission of King Arthur's knights. The quest was finally intrusted to Sir Galahad, because "his heart was pure."