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?
Art thou an ancient guest of Paradise?
The Messenger
I am the Messenger of the human race,
I am the Pioneer from d**h and night.
I am the nympholept of Beauty's face,
I am the hunter of the immortal Light.
The Fire-King
What wearest thou that wraps thee with its power
Protecting from the Guardians of the Way?
What wanderer born from the eternal Hour?
What fragment of the inconceivable Ray?
The Messenger
It is the fire of an awakened soul
Aspiring from d**h to reach Eternity,
The 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 d**hless peace
Or 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 unsorrowing timeless bliss,
I 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,
Wake not heaven's Lightning from its slumber's lair
To clothe thee with the anguish of its robe.