Like the sea that brooks no voyaging With the winds unleashed and free, Like the sea that he cowed at
Genseret
Wi' twey words spoke' suddently.
Ezra-Pound-Provenca-English
" quo' our Goodly Fere, "Or I '11 see ye damned," says he.
Aye he sent us out through the crossed high spears And the scorn of his laugh rang free,
"Why took ye not me when I walked about Alone in the town? " says he.
Oh we drank his "Hale" in the good red wine When we last made company,
No capon priest was the Goodly Fere, But a man o' men was he.
I ha* seen him drive a hundred men j
Wi' a bundle o cords swung free,
That they took the high and holy house For their pawn and treasury.
They '11 no' get him a' in a book, I think,
Though they write it cunningly;
No mouse of the scrolls was the Goodly Fere, But aye loved the open sea.
1
Fere=s Mate, Companion. 41
? Ballad of If think they
ha' snared our Fere
^^
"I '11 go to the feast," quo' our Goodly Fere,
"Though I go to the gallows tree. "
"Ye ha' seen me heal the lame and blind,
And wake the dead," says he,
"Ye shall see one thing to master all:
'T is how a brave man dies on the tree. "
A son of God was the Goodly Fere That bade us his brothers be.
I ha' seen him cow a thousand men. I have seen him upon the tree.
He cried no cry when they drave the nails And the blood gushed hot and free,
The hounds of the crimson sky gave tongue But never a cry cried he.
I ha' seen him cow a thousand men
On the hills o' Galilee,
They whined as he walked out calm between, Wi' his eyes like the grey o' the sea.
Like the sea that brooks no voyaging With the winds unleashed and free, Like the sea that he cowed at Genseret Wi' twey words spoke' suddently.
42
they the Goodly They are {QQ]B tQ
Goodly degree
? A master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea,
If they think they ha' slain our Goodly Fere They are fools eternally.
I ha' seen him eat o' the honey-comb Sin' they nailed him to the tree.
PORTRAIT
"
From LaM&reInconnue. "
NOW would I weave her portrait out of all dim
splendour.
Of Provence and far halls of memory,
Lo, there come echoes, faint diversity
Of blended bells at even's end, or
As the distant seas should send her
The tribute of their trembling, ceaselessly Resonant. Outofalldreamsthatbe,
Say, shall I bid the deepest dreams attend her?
Nay ! For I have seen the purplest shadows stand Alway with reverent chere that looked on her, Silence himself is grown her worshipper
And ever doth attend her in that land
Wherein she reigneth, wherefore let there stir Naught but the softest voices, praising her.
THE EYES
Master, for we be a-weary, weary, RESATn,d would feel the fingers of the wind
Upon these lids that lie over us Sodden and lead-heavy.
43
Ballad of fere
? The Eyes
Rest, brother, for lo ! the dawn is without !
The yellow flame paleth And the wax runs low.
Free us, for without be goodly colours, Green of the wood-moss and flower-colours, And coolness beneath the trees.
Aye he sent us out through the crossed high spears And the scorn of his laugh rang free,
"Why took ye not me when I walked about Alone in the town? " says he.
Oh we drank his "Hale" in the good red wine When we last made company,
No capon priest was the Goodly Fere, But a man o' men was he.
I ha* seen him drive a hundred men j
Wi' a bundle o cords swung free,
That they took the high and holy house For their pawn and treasury.
They '11 no' get him a' in a book, I think,
Though they write it cunningly;
No mouse of the scrolls was the Goodly Fere, But aye loved the open sea.
1
Fere=s Mate, Companion. 41
? Ballad of If think they
ha' snared our Fere
^^
"I '11 go to the feast," quo' our Goodly Fere,
"Though I go to the gallows tree. "
"Ye ha' seen me heal the lame and blind,
And wake the dead," says he,
"Ye shall see one thing to master all:
'T is how a brave man dies on the tree. "
A son of God was the Goodly Fere That bade us his brothers be.
I ha' seen him cow a thousand men. I have seen him upon the tree.
He cried no cry when they drave the nails And the blood gushed hot and free,
The hounds of the crimson sky gave tongue But never a cry cried he.
I ha' seen him cow a thousand men
On the hills o' Galilee,
They whined as he walked out calm between, Wi' his eyes like the grey o' the sea.
Like the sea that brooks no voyaging With the winds unleashed and free, Like the sea that he cowed at Genseret Wi' twey words spoke' suddently.
42
they the Goodly They are {QQ]B tQ
Goodly degree
? A master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea,
If they think they ha' slain our Goodly Fere They are fools eternally.
I ha' seen him eat o' the honey-comb Sin' they nailed him to the tree.
PORTRAIT
"
From LaM&reInconnue. "
NOW would I weave her portrait out of all dim
splendour.
Of Provence and far halls of memory,
Lo, there come echoes, faint diversity
Of blended bells at even's end, or
As the distant seas should send her
The tribute of their trembling, ceaselessly Resonant. Outofalldreamsthatbe,
Say, shall I bid the deepest dreams attend her?
Nay ! For I have seen the purplest shadows stand Alway with reverent chere that looked on her, Silence himself is grown her worshipper
And ever doth attend her in that land
Wherein she reigneth, wherefore let there stir Naught but the softest voices, praising her.
THE EYES
Master, for we be a-weary, weary, RESATn,d would feel the fingers of the wind
Upon these lids that lie over us Sodden and lead-heavy.
43
Ballad of fere
? The Eyes
Rest, brother, for lo ! the dawn is without !
The yellow flame paleth And the wax runs low.
Free us, for without be goodly colours, Green of the wood-moss and flower-colours, And coolness beneath the trees.
