Deus Otiosus
When Love has lov'd, and Death its own scythe take;
when marauders who selves thieve doth else give;
when lords of reap'd fields mown bone-men deep make;
the Lord shall look, and say, "And time to live."
For seven was the verse of His relieve,
Not one, nor never; being till then was this:
do this; past now: do this, if only If.
So live He did, as Lordly as was His,
and made all men as they were yet, yet His as is.
The man of maker's whim was thus unchain'd,
and consequently fought to chain the free.
Would no earth stand to fell he would have reign'd
A year, a century, eternity.
And when earth fallen stood to beg mercy
he, pleas'd, would scour its flesh for saintly build;
and will'd Olympian heights be scal'd to see
the battle-stricken torch of flame in wield,
the hold his fingers claw'd from clay: a white-shelled guild.
Of gilded shrine and spangl'd mine of word
spoke man words few, and wrote on this few'r so –
when speech is said the echo just is heard,
and echoes to salvation answer, No.
What speech meant, thus un-tongu'd, as friendly foe,
was what man's earthly dreams on earth could tread.
As Lovers love they prayers Pray, and O!
were higher minds, would folly feign, unfed.
Thus Death came free, and man unto it chain'd and led.
And man look'd to the stars (for, dying hence,
did stars outshine their cud and mortal friends)
to star-gaze; blank void gaz'd back firm, frank, thence.
No loving Lovers, nor a loving Sense,
nor pure in love did starlight sens'ous fence,
its pure atomic form. To judges just
(who heaven rule) a means could not set ends
themselves the ruling of the stars needs must.
And man, heaven rejected, gorg'd his eye on lust.
Sight far not, for in truth did not abscond,
our Lord, nor his scribes loving, from that seat
unfaithful earth toward has been; from maunds
of tribes to ounces gold upon did feed,
his free-less loves too freely loving. Greed,
through poets small, doth feed false love as Ours.
And when tyranny of the feuds o'er wheat
spill, and thus Fides fool, all love is bars.
For know this: that to have her, is to have the stars.