Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-04-14
arHE MAsoUE OF TIE eODs.v


"THE MAsQUE OF THE GODS.
The Boston correspondent Of the New
York EUeninq Post, writing on the Sd
instant, informs the public that the new
poem by Bayard Taylor, to be published
early next week by Messrs. James R.
Osgood & Co., vii make asmall volume
of forty-eight pages, containing about
six hundred verses. Itmay be described
briefly as an essay Ia comparative the
Ology, written in the form of a dramatic
poem. Its motive Is to set forth the
thought that the early religions Of the
world were stepping-stones to- Christian
ity. That 1t will supply a fruitful topic
for the conversations of literary circles
and the pens of critics is certain. II viii
give rise to attack and defense on doc
trinal as well as on artistic grounds. /
am not ambitious to lead either party,
but viii try to give some definite infor-
nation as to the nature and quality Of
Mr.. Taylor's work.
The first scene Is at midnight, on the
high table-lands of India. The rocks
break the silence with a soIlOquy on
their unehangeableness, mingled with q
sentiment of wonder that man has
changed so much:
we miss the dread, the ignorant wonder,
The dark stern being, born Of human fears"
No longer are their basis stained with
the blood of sacrifices and their summits
glorified by altar fires. Then the Caverns
utter their lament that, although as full
of murmurs, vibrations, rustlings and
whispers as ever they were, they have
ceased to be regarded as the homes Of
arcana. The Serpents next bewalI the
decay of the superstitious reverence with
which they were once regarded when
their smooth, cold ~uudulatiOns gave
the sign Of fate to nations"
s. Held once as gods, We sink to shapes Of
And writhe abased, with bruised and tram
pied head"
And the Wolves inquire:
"where delay the wizards,
Who were wont 70 claim
Fur and fang and deetness,
And the fearful nAme?"
When the elder heather divinities en-
ter II by one, Odin, waking from a
long dream TO discover only some rude
resemblance of the world he swayed,
commands the Wolves to be silent:
- What viii We here,
Where even gods grow dim2"
Deserving Perun confronting him, fno
less a shade, but more" he demands to
know who he Is. colder than thou and
mightier, " Perun replies. Baal declares
that none is older than himself. He
thinks Odin and Perun must pass away
because they never touched the. springs
of life. Baal thinks he may be weak
ened, but that he cannot die. Then
speaks Mantle in a strain which, for
sentiment and beauty, viii compare
fayorably with any in the poem:
'If be old, I kno not: ye are strange,
. Through the lands
governed, seated IN my hunting-grounds
Above the sky, my messenger the swan,
My slaves the beaver and the crafty fox,
The voices which address me slowly fan,
But We OF other worlds, declare nae this.
Am I myself, or am 1 made of them9"
This provOkes a dialogue among the
persOn6 already introduced,
in which the thought Is developed that
they are the servants of one higher than
themselves, of whom Odin says:
"By his leave we are
less than mans necessity. But what
Is, where throned, and how upheld In power,
I fain would know"
To him A Voice from Space replies:
"LofIam that I am"
After a pause, and a response to the
Voice from all the gods, who seek more
knowledge respecting their nature, the
Voice utters the assurance, milne are
We, also manis,'' and the scene ends
with q s~olloquy by Man, ~narrating that
he himself exalted these gods.
This first scene, il VIII be perceived,
embraces that period In the history Of
when Ideas of God are simple i'm
no~snDoffcDe aF nafrrrnTa fornau Ghn in
cidents of the second scene are related to
the advanced development Of humani-
ty when experience has chastened in
and beauty has asserted its pow
er to ennoble the material elements.
The scene changes to q headland above
the Egian Sea, wherein Is q decaying
Doric temple, and the time is early
dawn. Now, as before, Nature speaks
first, but instead of Rocks and Caverns,
Serpents and Wolves, we hear the Rivers,
the Trees, the Mountains and the Sea.
Then follow Joye, Elohim, Ormuzd,
Ahriman, Apollo, and at last I'M
manuel.
The third scene-s1a rock landscape,
sunriseh-opens with g chorus Of spirits,
proelaiming the eternity of One, but
'the deities die when their work is
done.ir Then the gods who appeared in
the first scene rehearse together their
several Offices and ask, s'Shah we live or
to whom the Voice from Space re-
81 have allowed yer Brahma
on his throne protests his ~falthfulness 10
the Primal One. To him the Voice re-
plies;
Thou doest HI work I set, yet nam'st thy
self:
I have no name"
Ormuzd c~ontradicts this declaration
.m~petuously:
aThou hasti Thy name Is Good"
But the Voice says ealraly, ''Good came
rom me-" Ahriman, the evil spirit,
demands TO know his origin. The Voice
,esponds, "And evil I permitted" To
love 1t says, 'aThou vast my servant
20 Elohim, aye I commissioned to
olive! Beauty is of me-" to
''Thou art my one begOtten
Son, in whom I ana weUsspleased."
The conclusion Is as follows:
MAN.
ave hearkea to the words
cannot understand. If we look up
the shining form wherein Thy Love
Made holiest revelation, we must shade
Dur eyes beneath the BROADENING wing Of
Doubt,
save US from Thy splendor. All we learn
From delying in the marrow 81 the Earth,
from scattering thought among the umsless
stars,
From slow deciphered hierogfyphfes of power
N chemic forces, planetary paths,
Dr. primal cells whence all Thy worlds are born
lifts Thee higher, seats Thee more august
TIL Thou art grown 50 vast and wonderful
dare not name Thee, scarce dare pray 70
Thee,
Yet what Thou art Thyself hast taught Us.
Thou
Didst plant the ladders whence we seek TO
climb,
Oidst satisfy the heart, yet leave the brain
work It's own new miracles, and read
thoughts, and stretch its Rgonizing hands
10 grasp Thee. Chide US not; be patient; we
Are children still, we are mistaken OFT,
Yet we ellie that in some ripper time
perfect Truth shall come.
A VOICE FROM SPACE.
'Waitl Ye shall Know"
FIERCE ENCOUNTER.
a-LN---N