Canto 76Vast-winged the wind ran
Book 16. Part Seven - Pondicherry Circa 1927 – 1947
Metrical Experiments
O Life, thy breath is but a cry
O Life, thy breath is but a cry to the Light
Immortal, whence has come thy swift delight,
5Thy grasp.
All things in vain thy hands seize;
Earth’s music fails, the notes cease
Or rasp.
Aloud thou callst to blind Fate,
10“Remove the bar, the gold gate
Unhasp.”
But never hast thou the goal yet of thy race
Neared, nor thrilled with the ineffable Face,
The clasp.
15Vast-winged the wind ran
Vast-winged the wind ran, violent, black-cowled the waves
O’er-topped with fierce green eyes the deck,
Huge heads upraised.
Death-hunted, wound-weary, groaned like a whipped beast
20the ship,
Shrank, cowered, sobbed, each blow like Fate’s
Despairing felt.