welcome to these walls;
Thy presence honours them, and blesseth those
Who dwell within them.
Thy presence honours them, and blesseth those
Who dwell within them.
Byron
There is a calm upon me--
Inexplicable stillness! which till now
Did not belong to what I knew of life.
If that I did not know Philosophy
To be of all our vanities the motliest, 10
The merest word that ever fooled the ear
From out the schoolman's jargon, I should deem
The golden secret, the sought "Kalon," found,[152]
And seated in my soul. It will not last,
But it is well to have known it, though but once:
It hath enlarged my thoughts with a new sense,
And I within my tablets would note down
That there is such a feeling. Who is there?
_Re-enter_ HERMAN.
_Her_. My Lord, the Abbot of St. Maurice craves[153]
To greet your presence.
_Enter the_ ABBOT OF ST. MAURICE.
_Abbot_. Peace be with Count Manfred! 20
_Man_. Thanks, holy father!
welcome to these walls;
Thy presence honours them, and blesseth those
Who dwell within them.
_Abbot_. Would it were so, Count! --
But I would fain confer with thee alone.
_Man_. Herman, retire. --What would my reverend guest?
_Abbot_. Thus, without prelude:--Age and zeal--my office--
And good intent must plead my privilege;
Our near, though not acquainted neighbourhood,
May also be my herald. Rumours strange,
And of unholy nature, are abroad, 30
And busy with thy name--a noble name
For centuries: may he who bears it now
Transmit it unimpaired!
_Man_. Proceed,--I listen.
_Abbot_. 'Tis said thou holdest converse with the things
Which are forbidden to the search of man;
That with the dwellers of the dark abodes,
The many evil and unheavenly spirits
Which walk the valley of the Shade of Death,
Thou communest. I know that with mankind,
Thy fellows in creation, thou dost rarely 40
Exchange thy thoughts, and that thy solitude
Is as an Anchorite's--were it but holy.
_Man_.
Inexplicable stillness! which till now
Did not belong to what I knew of life.
If that I did not know Philosophy
To be of all our vanities the motliest, 10
The merest word that ever fooled the ear
From out the schoolman's jargon, I should deem
The golden secret, the sought "Kalon," found,[152]
And seated in my soul. It will not last,
But it is well to have known it, though but once:
It hath enlarged my thoughts with a new sense,
And I within my tablets would note down
That there is such a feeling. Who is there?
_Re-enter_ HERMAN.
_Her_. My Lord, the Abbot of St. Maurice craves[153]
To greet your presence.
_Enter the_ ABBOT OF ST. MAURICE.
_Abbot_. Peace be with Count Manfred! 20
_Man_. Thanks, holy father!
welcome to these walls;
Thy presence honours them, and blesseth those
Who dwell within them.
_Abbot_. Would it were so, Count! --
But I would fain confer with thee alone.
_Man_. Herman, retire. --What would my reverend guest?
_Abbot_. Thus, without prelude:--Age and zeal--my office--
And good intent must plead my privilege;
Our near, though not acquainted neighbourhood,
May also be my herald. Rumours strange,
And of unholy nature, are abroad, 30
And busy with thy name--a noble name
For centuries: may he who bears it now
Transmit it unimpaired!
_Man_. Proceed,--I listen.
_Abbot_. 'Tis said thou holdest converse with the things
Which are forbidden to the search of man;
That with the dwellers of the dark abodes,
The many evil and unheavenly spirits
Which walk the valley of the Shade of Death,
Thou communest. I know that with mankind,
Thy fellows in creation, thou dost rarely 40
Exchange thy thoughts, and that thy solitude
Is as an Anchorite's--were it but holy.
_Man_.
