Canto 150The Fire King and the Messenger
Book 16. Part Seven - Pondicherry Circa 1927 – 1947
THE FIRE KING
O soul who com’st fire-mantled from the earth
Into the silence of the seven skies,
Art thou an heir of the spiritual birth?
5Art thou an ancient guest of Paradise?
THE MESSENGER
I am the Messenger of the human race,
I am a Pioneer from death and night.
I am the nympholept of Beauty’s face,
10I am the hunter of the immortal Light.
Pondicherry, c. 1927–1947
THE FIRE KING
What flame wearst thou that wraps thee with its power
Protecting from the Guardians of the Way?
15What wanderer born from the eternal Hour?
What fragment of the inconceivable Ray?
THE MESSENGER
It is the fire of an awakened soul
Aspiring from death to reach Eternity,
20The wings of sacrifice flaming to their goal,
The burning godhead of humanity.
THE FIRE KING
What seekst thou here, child of the transient ways?
Wouldst thou be free and still in endless peace?
25Or gaze for ever on the Eternal’s face,
Hushed in an incommunicable release?
THE MESSENGER
I claim for men the peace that shall not fail,
I claim for earth the unwounded timeless bliss,
30I seek God-strength for souls that suffer in hell,
God-light to fill the ignorant abyss.
THE FIRE KING
Ascend no more with thy presumptuous prayer
But safe return to the forsaken globe,
35Wake not heaven’s Lightning from its slumber’s lair
To clothe thee with the anguish of its robe.