Visit ebookmass.

com to download the full version and

explore more ebook or textbook

Romanian Folklore and its Archaic Heritage. A

cultural and Linguistic Comparative Study Ana R.
Chelariu

_____ Click the link below to download _____

https://ebookmass.com/product/romanian-folklore-and-its-
archaic-heritage-a-cultural-and-linguistic-comparative-
study-ana-r-chelariu/

Explore and download more ebook or textbook at ebookmass.com

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

Cultural Objects and Reparative Justice: A Legal and

Historical Analysis (Cultural Heritage Law and Policy)
Gerstenblith
https://ebookmass.com/product/cultural-objects-and-reparative-justice-
a-legal-and-historical-analysis-cultural-heritage-law-and-policy-
gerstenblith/

Heritage Entrepreneurship: Cultural and Creative Pursuits

in Business Management Vanessa Ratten

https://ebookmass.com/product/heritage-entrepreneurship-cultural-and-
creative-pursuits-in-business-management-vanessa-ratten/

Famine: Its Causes, Effects and Management John R. K.

Robson

https://ebookmass.com/product/famine-its-causes-effects-and-
management-john-r-k-robson/

Mario Lavista: Mirrors of Sounds Ana R. Alonso-Minutti

https://ebookmass.com/product/mario-lavista-mirrors-of-sounds-ana-r-
alonso-minutti/
Solid State Chemistry and its Applications 2nd Edition
Anthony R. West

https://ebookmass.com/product/solid-state-chemistry-and-its-
applications-2nd-edition-anthony-r-west/

Fortuna: Deity and Concept in Archaic and Republican Italy

Daniele Miano

https://ebookmass.com/product/fortuna-deity-and-concept-in-archaic-
and-republican-italy-daniele-miano/

The Qur’an and Late Antiquity: A Shared Heritage Angelika

Neuwirth

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-quran-and-late-antiquity-a-shared-
heritage-angelika-neuwirth/

Freedom of Speech and Expression: Its History, Its Value,

Its Good Use, and Its Misuse Richard Sorabji

https://ebookmass.com/product/freedom-of-speech-and-expression-its-
history-its-value-its-good-use-and-its-misuse-richard-sorabji/

Finance Capitalism and Income Inequality in the

Contemporary Global Economy: A Comparative Study of the
USA, South Korea, Argentina and Sweden Kuat B. Akizhanov
https://ebookmass.com/product/finance-capitalism-and-income-
inequality-in-the-contemporary-global-economy-a-comparative-study-of-
the-usa-south-korea-argentina-and-sweden-kuat-b-akizhanov/
Romanian Folklore and
its Archaic Heritage
A Cultural and Linguistic Comparative Study

Ana R. Chelariu
Romanian Folklore and its Archaic Heritage
 Ana R. Chelariu

Romanian Folklore
and its Archaic
Heritage
A cultural and Linguistic
Comparative Study
Ana R. Chelariu
Emerson, NJ, USA

ISBN 978-3-031-04050-4    ISBN 978-3-031-04051-1 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04051-1

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2023
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by
similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Cover illustration: Friptuleac Roman / Alamy Stock Photo

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
“Aion is a child at play, playing draughts; the kingship is a child’s.”
—Heraclitus, Fr. 52
To my mother
 Acknowledgements

The completion of my work took many years of research and a lot of

effort to overcome the language barrier, and which could not have been
realised without the encouragement and support of family, friends and
distinguished professors, colleagues from the International Association of
Comparative Mythology, the Institute of Archaeonythology, American
Romanian Academy, and Romanian Universities. I will always cherrish
the memory of Professor Dean Miller, a true friend of Romanian studies,
and Professor Nick Allen, whose Hindu studies were generously made
available to me.
Special thanks and gratitude are due to Professor John Colarusso from
MacMaster University, for his encouragement and guidance over per-
sonal correspondence.
I owe a great deal to Professor Allen Ahsby for helping me in my strug-
gle with the English language.
Professor Stefan Stoenescu’s advise for the Romanian version of this
work is much appreciated. Professor Adrian Poruciuc’s interests in Indo-­
European linguistics and Romanian folklore encouraged me in the begin-
ning, and many thanks to Professor Mircea Diaconu from Stefan Cel
Mare University, Suceava, Romania for his interest and reviewings of my
articles.
Appreciation goes to Professor Joshua James Pennington from the
Peerwith, for his help in editing and language corrections.
ix
x Acknowledgements

The many Romanian friends from diaspora, among whom renown

folklorist Coca Eretescu, the poet and literary critic Mirela Roznoveanu,
and the linguist Mihai Vinereanu, deserve special thanks.
Last but not least, this work could not have been completed without
the patience and understanding of my talented husband Serban, painter
and poet in his own right, and my beautiful exceptional daughter, Andrea,
my first and most understanding editor; and her wonderful family, Scott
and my three grandkids, Sean, Claire and Thea, always the joys of my life,
who I hope one day may be able to read this work.
 Contents

Part I Getae-Dacians History and Religion in Ancient

Sources   1

1 I ntroduction  3

2 Brief
 Overview of Recent Theories on the
Indo-Europeans’ Homeland  9

3 Cucuteni-Tripolye: The Indo-European Homeland? 17

4 Some Recent Genetic and Archaeological Conclusions 25

5 Daco-Romanian Language: An Indo-European Branch 29

Part II Comparative Method: Myth, Fairy Tale, Folk Tale  39

6 The Development of the Comparative Method 41

7 The Concept of Myth 45

xi
xii Contents

8 Myth Between Symbol and Metaphor 53

9 M
 yth and Fairy Tales 63

10 Mythic Time Versus Fairy Tale Time 69

Part III Traits of Indo-European Mythic Motifs in

Romanian Folk Stories  73

11 The Mythic Motif of Man’s Creation 75

12 C
 osmogony: Fârtat and Nefârtat, the Romanian Twins
among the Indo-­European Divine Twins 83

13 God
 ‘Dumnezeu’ and the Creation of Earth, Sky,
Mountains in Romanian Beliefs 97

14 Th
 e Romanian Goddess Ileana Simziana: The Sun and
the Moon Marriage109

15 The
 Sun and a Mortal Girl Marriage: The Romanian
Song of Cicoarea ‘The Chicory’121

16 The
 ‘Deer Hunt’ Motif in the Romanian Wedding
Ceremony125

17 R
 omanian Feminine Spirits iele, rusalii, șoimane141

18 Th
 e Romanian Păcală among the Indo-­European
Tricksters145

19 Th
 e Hero Slaying the Dragon in the Romanian Song
Iovan Iorgovan153
Visit https://ebookmass.com today to explore
a vast collection of ebooks across various
genres, available in popular formats like
PDF, EPUB, and MOBI, fully compatible with
all devices. Enjoy a seamless reading
experience and effortlessly download high-
quality materials in just a few simple steps.
Plus, don’t miss out on exciting offers that
let you access a wealth of knowledge at the
best prices!
 Contents xiii

20 Youth
 Rivalry Fights: From Nart Sagas to the Romanian
Song Mioriţa169

21 Metamorphoses in Myth and Fairy Tales181

22 Metamorphoses in Youth Initiation Rites191

23 The
 Romanian Folk Story “The Enchanted Pig”: The
Motif ‘Beauty and the Beast’199

24 Indo-European
 Social Structures and Youth Initiation
Rites in Romanian Folk Customs205

25 F
 ather Christmas: Romanian Moş Crăciun—A Solar Myth215

26 C
 onclusions229

Part IV Daco-Romanian Language Position Among the

Indo-European Languages 235

27 Th
 e Daco-Romanian Cultural Vocabulary237

A
 ppendix257

B
 ibliography389

I ndex411
 About the Author

Ana R. Chelariu was born in Bucharest, Romania, on November 19,

1946. Early on, while studying Romanian language and literature at the
University of Bucharest, she began her career writing original fairy tales
for the Radio-TV Romania, and was awarded First Prize for an original
fairy tale, transmitted on the radio broadcasting for children “Inşir-te
mărgăritar.” The interest in fairy tales, particularly the relationship
between myth and fairy tales, was the subject of her Master of Arts gradu-
ation thesis at the University of Bucharest, entitled Nemesis in the folktale
type A-Th 325, the Wizard and his Apprentice.
She has published articles, book reviews, and stories for children in
magazines such as Neue Literatur and Cutezătorii; she worked as a free-
lance editorial advisor for the publishing house ‘Cartea Românească’.
In 1978, she published her first book, a collection of original fairy tales
The Secret of Happiness, Ion Creangă Publishing House, Bucharest.
In January 1979, Ana immigrated to the United States. She continued
her studies, graduating in 1981 from Rutgers University, with a Master in
Library Science. While working as the director of a public library in
Northern Jersey, she continued her studies in mythology, folklore, and
language history.
As a member of the Society of Romanian Studies, she presents her
research studies on the relation between myth and folktale at various

xv
xvi About the Author

conferences organized by the Society, studies published in English in the

Romanian Civilization magazine.
In 2001, she published together with the Romanian writer Nina
Ceranu Libertăţile bufniţei [The Owl Freedoms], Ana@West and Nina@
East, a collection of e-mail correspondence between two writers who
never met in person. The book was reviewed in a few newspapers: Ildico
Achimescu, National Premiere, in Timişoara was published the first episto-
lary novel on the Internet; Ion Arieşanu: Looking through books; Alex.
Stefănescu: Chat on the Internet.
In 2003, Ana Chelariu published in Romanian Metafora metaforei;
studiu de mitologie comparată (The Metaphor of the Metaphor, a Study of
Comparative Mythology), Bucharest, Cartea Românească Publishing
House, book presented at the National Book Fair, Bucharest,
November 2003.
The book was also presented at the ‘Mihai Eminescu’ literary club,
New York City, January, 2004, featured in the magazine Lumină Lină,
and at the Romanian Cultural Institute, New York City, February 2004.
The study was reviewed by Mircea A. Diaconu: “Un teritoriu fascinant şi
recuperat, mitologia comparată [A Fascinating and Retrieved Territory,
Comparative Mythology]”, [Dacia Literară, XV, nr. 55, 4/2004, Iaşi],
Timotei Ursu “Tot despre Crăciun [About Christmas Again]”, in Lumea
Liberă [Free World], New York City, Nr. 798, 22 January, 2004; on line
http://www.romanianvip.com/2009/03/metafora-­metaforei-­ana-­radu/
“Metafora metaforei” de Ana Radu Chelariu, 26 March 2009—
Eugen Evu.
The same year, 2003, she published at the Eubeea Publishing House,
Timişoara, a bilingual children’s story, Romanian-English, Nea Nae
mănâncă luna/Master Nick Eats the Moon.
She published in Balkanistica, vol. 16, 2003 (South East European
Studies Association, University of Mississippi), a book review of The
3000-Year-Old Hat: New Connections with Old Europe: the Thraco-­
Phrygian World, by Irina and Nicolas Florov, Vancouver, 2001.
Ana continues to participate in conferences and publish articles on
various topics, particularly on Romanian mythology in relation with
Indo-European language and culture in the Journal of American Romanian
 About the Author xvii

Academy, the magazine Origini [Roots], and the Internet publication of

the Romanian language, Conexiuni.
In 2013, she published ‘The Two Pennies Pouch’; a Romanian folktale,
based on ‘Punguța cu doi bani’, by Ion Creangă, Amazon.com., with illus-
trations by Serban Chelariu.
She participates annually with communications at the conferences
organized by the International Association of Comparative Mythology,
such as:
The Role of Metamorphosis in the Initiation Rites: the Flight of
Transformation from Myth to Romanian Folktales, Strasbourg, 2011.
Metaphors and the Mythical Language—Examples from Romanian
Mythology, Tubingen, 2013.
She published Metamorphosis amid Myths, Initiation Rites and
Romanian Folk Tales in Nouvelle Mythologie Comparée/New Comparative
Mythology, Lingva, nr, 3, p. 49, 2016–2017.
She publishes reviews of books for The Journal of Folklore Research
Reviews; Indiana University.
She is a member of the American Romanian Academy, the Society of
Romanian Studies, the South-East European Studies, International
Association of Comparative Mythology, The Institute of
Arhcaeomythology, New Jersey Library Association, and American
Library Association.
Ana lives with her family in New Jersey, United States of America.
 Abbreviations

adj. adjective
adv. adverb
Alb Albanian
arch archaic
Arm Armenian
ARom Aromanian
Bret Breton, Celtic
Bulg Bulgarian
Bur Burushaski
Corn Cornish, Celtic
Czech Czech
DEX.RO Dicționarul Explicativ al Limbii Române online
DRom Daco-Romanian
Dutch modern Dutch
f. feminine
Gaul Gaulish
Goth Gothic
Grk Greek
Hit Hitite
Ice Icelandic
IEW Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch
Illyr Illyrian
inf. infinitive

xix
xx Abbreviations

Iran Iranian
IstrRom Istro-Romanian
JIES Journal of Indo-European Studies
Lat Latin
Latv Latvian
Lig Ligurian
Lith Lithuanian
Luv Luvian
m. masculine
MA Mallory & Adams
Maced Macedonian
MDutch West Law Germanic
ME Middle English
MglRom Megleno-Romanian
MHG Middle High German
MPers Middle Persi
n. noun
NE modern English
NHG New Hogh German
NIce New Icelandic
Norw Norwegian
NPres New Persian
NWels New Welsh
OCimmr Old Cimmerian
OCS Old Church Slavonic
OE Old English
OIce Old Icelandic
OInd Old Indian
OIr Old Irish
OIran Old Iranian
OLat Old Latin
ON Old Norse
OPers Old Persian
OPrus Old Prussian
ORus Old Russian
Osc Oscan
Oss Ossetic
Phryg Phrygian
 Abbreviations xxi

PIE Proto-Indo-European
Pk Pokorny
pl. plural
PN personal name
Pol Polish
PSl Proto Slav
RN river name
Rus Russian
Serb Serbian
sg. singular
Skt Sanskrit
Slovk Slovakian
Slovn Slovenian
Thrac Thracian
Toch A B Tocharian A and B
Trk Turkish
Ukr Ukrainian
Umb Umbrian
v. verb
 Part I
Getae-Dacians History and Religion
in Ancient Sources
 1
Introduction

By the end of the first millennium BCE, the Carpathian Mountains and
the surrounding hills were populated with people living out of the deep
vast forests and fertile valleys, along fast-moving springs, raising their
families and tending their livestock, all the while transmitting their cul-
tural heritage from one generation to another. The little that we know
about this large group comes mostly from Greek sources, beginning with
Herodotus (Histories 4. 93–96), who groups these people named Getae
into the large tribes of Thracians, sharing the same language, customs,
and religious beliefs (ibid.), all part of the Indo-European group, In his
short depiction, the Greek historian describes them as “the most manly
and law-abiding of the Thracian tribes”, recounting one of the rituals that
gives us a glimpse into the beliefs these people held: According to his
account, every five years one man was selected from their community to
serve as a messenger to god. The messenger would be held by his arms
and legs and swung in the air before being launched over three spikes. If
he was impaled on the spikes and succumbed to his wounds, it was inter-
preted that their god was showing them favor; but if he did not die that
meant the man was wicked, and they had to continue until they appeased
their god with a proper sacrifice, a better man. When thunder and light-
ning occurred, Getae would aim their arrows toward the clouds,

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 3

A. R. Chelariu, Romanian Folklore and its Archaic Heritage,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04051-1_1
4 A. R. Chelariu

threatening the sky with angry cries. Their supreme god was Zalmoxis, (also
spelt Salmoxis), a Getae who, it is said, was a slave of the Greek Pythagoras,
as Herodotus writes: §1.1.1: 4.94: (1) “I understand from the Greeks who
live beside the Hellespont and Pontus, that this Salmoxis was a man who
was once a slave in Samos, his master being Pythagoras son of Mnesarchus.”
As the historian continues, after being freed and gaining great wealth,
‘Salmoxis’ returned to his country and began teaching the Pythagorean
doctrine of immortality. He built a hall in which people would gather and
listen to his teachings (3) “that neither he nor his guests nor any of their
descendants would ever die, but that they would go to a place where they
would live forever and have all good things” (ibid.). While he was teaching,
he (Zalmoxis) had built an underground chamber where he vanished and
lived for three years (4). The Thracians mourned him for dead, but (5) “in
the fourth year he appeared to the Thracians, and thus they came to believe
what ‘Salmoxis’ had told them” (ibid.). Getae believed in immortality, and
after death they go to Zalmoxis, §1.1.3: 4.96. “who is called also Gebeleizis
by some among them” (ibid.). The Romanian historian Vasile Pârvan in his
extensive work Getica opposes the Greek historians who attributed human
condition to Zalmoxis, in the end agreeing with Herodotus on the Getae’s
beliefs in a god named Zalmoxis. (Pârvan 1982: p. 92)
Centuries later, Strabo (Geography 7. 3. 12) called the tribes living in
the western parts of the Carpathians toward German territories “daoi,
dakoi”, which directs the search to the PIE [Pokorny (1959)
Indogermanisches etymologiscches worterbuch (IEW) 235] *dhau- ‘to press,
squeeze, strangle’ > DRom n. Daci collective ethnonym tribe name, Lat
Dāci; Phryg δάος; other DRom developments dulău n.m. ‘big aggressive
dog, shepherd dog’; dolcă n. f. ‘bitch’, with cognates, as per Pokorny:
“Phryg δάος … ὑπο Υρυγων λύκος Hes. (therefrom the people’s name
Δᾶοι, Dāci), Lyd Καν-δαύλης (κυν-άγχης ‘Indian Hemp, dogbane,
plant poisonous to dogs’), compare Καν-δάων, name of Thrac god of
war, Illyr PN Can-davia; dhaunos ‘wolf ’ as ‘shrike’; Lat Faunus; Grk
θαῦνον θηρίον (Hesykhios); Illyr Daunus therefrom Δαύνιοι, inhabit-
ant of Daunia; compare Thrac Δαύνιον τεῖχος); Gk. Zεὺς Θαύλιος, that
is, ‘shrike’; with ablaut Grk θώς, θω(F)ός ‘jackal’, maybe Alb dac ‘cat’;
Phryg. δάος; Goth af-dauiÞs ‘rended, mangled, afflicted’; OCS davljǫ,
daviti ‘embroider, choke, strangle’, Russ davítь ‘pressure, press, choke,
crush’, dávka ‘crush’”. The Bulgarian linguist V. Georgiev (1960, p. 48)
Visit https://ebookmass.com today to explore
a vast collection of ebooks across various
genres, available in popular formats like
PDF, EPUB, and MOBI, fully compatible with
all devices. Enjoy a seamless reading
experience and effortlessly download high-
quality materials in just a few simple steps.
Plus, don’t miss out on exciting offers that
let you access a wealth of knowledge at the
best prices!
Other documents randomly have
different content
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Shepherd Singing
Ragtime, and Other Poems
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Shepherd Singing Ragtime, and Other Poems

Author: Louis Golding

Release date: November 14, 2017 [eBook #55963]

Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Al Haines

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHEPHERD

SINGING RAGTIME, AND OTHER POEMS ***
SHEPHERD SINGING
RAGTIME
AND OTHER POEMS
BY

LOUIS GOLDING

LONDON
CHRISTOPHERS
32 BERNERS STREET, W. 1

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

SORROW OF WAR: POEMS

FORWARD FROM BABYLON
 FOR JACK

KILLED IN FRANCE, APRIL THE FIFTH, NINETEEN HUNDRED

AND EIGHTEEN

CONTENTS

Numbers
Ploughman at the Plough
Creed
The Starry Lady
When the Great Arm of a Tree Bends Stooping
The Moon-Clock
Unnamed Fruit
Portrait of an Artist
Shepherd Singing Ragtime
Skylark Noon
The Singer of High State
Bird, Bird, Bird
Green Beads
The Wind, Whence Blowing
Lady of Babylon
This is the Happy Husband, This is He
Cold Branch in the Black Air
Ghosts Gathering
Lyric in Gloom
I Seek a Wild Star
My Lady of Peace
Our Jack
Peace
Silver-Badged Waiter
Sunset over Suburb
Shrift among Hills
Courage the Dreamers

NUMBERS

Three sheep graze on the low hill

Beneath the shadow of five trees.
Three sheep!
Five old sycamores!
(The noon is very full of sleep.
The noon's a shepherd kind and still.
The noon's a shepherd takes his ease
Beneath the shadow of five trees,
Five old sycamores.)
Three sheep graze on the low hill.
Down in the grass in twos and fours
Cows are munching in the field.
Three sheep graze on the low hill;
Bless them, Lord, to give me wool.
Cows are munching in the field;
Bless them that their teats be full.
Bless the sheep and cows to yield
Wool to keep my children warm,
Milk that they should grow therefrom.

Three sheep graze on the low hill,

Beneath five sycamores.
Cows are munching in the field.
All in twos and fours.

On an elm-tree far aloof

There are nine-and-twenty crows,
Croaking to the blue sky roof
Fifteen hundred ancient woes.

In a cracked deserted house,

Six owls cloaked with age and dream,
In a cracked deserted house,
Six owls wait upon a beam,
Wait for the nocturnal mouse.

In the stackyard at my farm

There are fourteen stacks of hay.
Lord, I pray
Keep my golden goods from harm,
Fourteen shining stacks of hay!

Fourteen shining stacks of hay,

Six owls, nine-and-twenty crows,
Three sheep grazing on the hill
Beneath five sycamores,
Fat cows munching in a field,
All in twos and fours,
Fat cows munching in a field,
Fourteen shining stacks of hay.

At a table in a room
Where beyond the window-frames
Glows the sweet geranium,
At a table in a room
My three children play their games
Till their father-poet come,
Stop a moment, listen, wait
Till a father-poet come.
Lovely ones of lovely names,
He shall not come late.

Fourteen shining stacks of hay,

Six owls, nine-and-twenty crows,
Fifteen hundred ancient woes,
Three sheep grazing on the hill,
Beneath five sycamores,
Fat cows munching in a field
All in twos and fours,
Fourteen shining stacks of hay,
My three lovely children, one
Mother laughing like the sun,
Sweetheart laughing like the sun
When the baby laughters run.

Now the goal I sought is won,

Sweetheart laughing like the sun,
Now the goal I sought is won,
Sweet, my song is done.

PLOUGHMAN AT THE PLOUGH

He behind the straight plough stands

Stalwart, firm shafts in firm hands.

Naught he cares for wars and naught

For the fierce disease of thought.

Only for the winds, the sheer

Naked impulse of the year,

Only for the soil which stares

Clean into God's face he cares.

In the stark might of his deed

There is more than art or creed;
In his wrist more strength is hid
Than the monstrous Pyramid;

Stauncher than stern Everest

Be the muscles of his breast;

Not the Atlantic sweeps a flood

Potent as the ploughman's blood.

He, his horse, his ploughshare, these

Are the only verities.

Dawn to dusk with God he stands,

The Earth poised on his broad hands.

CREED

I shall insistently and proudly read

Into the mud of things a mudless creed,
Out of mud fashioning a palace so
Clamant with beauty and superb with snow,
That in this glory shall men's eyes be blurred,
Stars be made slaves to this most potent Word.
I in thick mud shall hear swift stars proclaim
The intolerable splendour of the Name.
I in a beetle's nerves shall search and find
The processes of the chaos-cleaving mind,
On my clock's second-fingers I shall see
The tidal journeyings of Eternity.
 THE STARRY LADY

Now with anger,

Pomp and royal clangour,
Now where his Lady is
Starry with her crown;
Now the hills waking from the day's languor,
Now with many instruments in puissant harmonies,
The sun goes down.

Now rivers splendid

Now song attended
Throw ranks of music forward to the sea.
Now hills like vocal moons
Blow their prolonged bassoons
Forth where the Monarch swoons,
After long labour ended,
Swoons for his Lady—ah starry she!

From dim clouds wheeling

Song down comes stealing
Round flowers whose petals shaking
Silver of song are making;
Round the grand bronze of trees
Whose trumpets pealing
Peal through the sunset till
Flower, tree and cloud and hill
Fuse in the splendour of song that girdles the seas.

The Sun now is set—and now

Lips on her calm cool brow!
Now there is heaping
Of star-dust steeping
With deep and drowsy scents
Their bodies sleeping.
 Quiet now, quiet,
Of golden instruments!
Now still, most shadowy still
Are cloud and hill;
Still, in this solemn hour
Lie cloud and flower;
Still, most shadowy still
Lie cloud and tree.
Now under tranquil skies,
Far, far the Monarch lies
Lone with his starry Lady—ah starry she!

WHEN THE GREAT ARM OF

A TREE BENDS STOOPING

When the great arm of a tree bends stooping

Across the dark road ...
Beware, beware!
Beware lest fingers searching, scooping
Snatch up your body by your hair,
Beware!
Think this no leafing clod,
Insensible clay!
Know you that through long ages in tense calm
This tree hath held its arm,
The instinct fingers nerved by most high God:
Until you knowing nought
Because of thick false thought,
You came, frail fool, treading a secure way.

When the great arm of a tree bends stooping

Across the dark road ...
 Beware!
Beware lest fingers meet within your hair,
A stern arm clasp you round,
Bear you from the ground;
And you shall be held tight
Against a bloodless breast
Till human blood be pressed
From finger-nails and eyes,
And all the little cries
Your lips gave forth of old
Shall now no more arise
Where you hang cold,
Where you hang dry and stark
Against the granite dark,
Frozenly upright;
And deeper, deeper you
Shall thick leaves hide from view,
Your dead limbs shall be sunk
Down further through the trunk,
And all your veins shall wrap
Channels of flowing sap,
Your brain and lungs and blood
Shall be stiff wood,
Till you at last shall be
The cold heart of a tree.

Beware!
When the great arm of a tree bends stooping
Across the dark road....

THE MOON-CLOCK

(For Alan Porter)

Tick-tock! the moon, that pale round clock
Her big face peering, goes tick-tock!

Metallic as a grasshopper
The faint far tickings start and stir.

All night tinily you can hear

Tick-tock tinkling down the sheer

Steep falls of space. Minute, aloof,

Here is no praise, here no reproof.

Remote in voids star-purged of sense,

Tick-tock in stark indifference!

From ice-black lands of lack and rock,

The two swords shake and clank tick-tock.

In the dark din of the day's vault

Demand thy headlong soul shall halt

One moment. Hearken, taut and tense,

In the vast Silence beyond sense,

The moon! From the hushed heart of her,

Metallic as a grasshopper,

Patient though earth may writhe and rock,

Imperturbably, tock, tick-tock!

Till, boastful earth, your forests wilt

In grotesque Death. Till Death shall silt,

Loud-blooded man, her unchecked sands

From feet and warped expiring hands

Through fatuous channels of the thinned

Brain. Till all the clangours which have dinned
Through your arched ears are only this,
Tick-tock down blank eternities,

Where still the sallow death's-head ticks

As stars burn down like candle-wicks.

UNNAMED FRUIT

(For A. E. Coppard)

What fruit grows viewless in my garden plot,

So red the sun is shamed,
Tipped with green starshine and with opal flamed!
Days shall not rot
My fruit so sacred that it is not named.

Not with a carnal lip shalt thou devour

A pulp so tragic-sweet.
For here the juices of disaster meet
When silly power
Gives form to fancy that a man might eat.

Leave us a single tree of precious fruit;

One dream to be our own;
One shape which shall not stammer into stone;
One sweet song mute
To sing with fleshless lips when flesh is flown

PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST
I have been given eyes
Which are neither foolish nor wise,
Seeing through joy or pain
Beauty alone remain.

I have been given an ear

Which catches nothing clear,
But only along the day
A Song stealing away.

My feet and hands never could

Do anything evil or good:
Instead of these things,
A swift mouth that sings.

SHEPHERD SINGING RAGTIME

(For E. V. Branford)

The shepherd sings:

"Way down in Dixie,
Way down in Dixie,
Where the hens are dog-gone glad to lay..."

With shaded eyes he stands to look

Across the hills where the clouds swoon,
He singing, leans upon his crook,
He sings, he sings no more.
The wind is muffled in the tangled hair
Of sheep that drift along the noon.
The mild sheep stare
With amber eyes about the pearl-flecked June.
Two skylarks soar
 With singing flame
Into the sun whence first they came.
All else is only grasshoppers
Or a brown wing the shepherd stirs,
Who, like a slow tree moving, goes
Where the pale tide of sheep-drift flows.

See! the sun smites

With molten lights
The turned wing of a gull that glows
Aslant the violet, the profound
Dome of the mid-June heights.
Alas! again the grasshoppers,
The birds, the slumber-winging bees,
Alas! again for those and these
Demure things drowned;
Drowned in vain raucous words men made
Where no lark rose with swift and sweet
Ascent and where no dim sheep strayed
About the stone immensities,
Where no sheep strayed and where no bees
Probed any flowers nor swung a blade
Of grass with pollened feet.

He sings
"In Dixie,
Way down in Dixie,
Where the hens are dog-gone glad to lay
Scrambled eggs in the new-mown hay..."

The herring-gulls with peevish cries

Rebuke the man who sings vain words;
His sheep-dog growls a low complaint,
Then turns to chasing butterflies.
But when the indifferent singing-birds
From midmost down to dimmest shore
Innumerably confirm their songs,
And grasshoppers make summer rhyme
And solemn bees in the wild thyme
Clash cymbals and beat gongs,
The shepherd's words once more are faint,
Once more the alien song is thinned
Upon the long course of the wind,
He sings, he sings no more.

Ah now the dear monotonies

Of bells that jangle on the sheep
To the low limit of the hills!
Till the blue cup of music spills
Into the boughs of lowland trees;
Till thence the lowland singings creep
Into the dreamful shepherd's head,
Creep drowsily through his blood;
The young thrush fluting all he knows,
The ring dove moaning his false woes,
Almost the rabbit's tiny tread,
The last unfolding bud.

But now,
Now a cool word spreads out along the sea.
Now the day's violet is cloud-tipped with gold.
Now dusk most silently
Fills the hushed day with other wings than birds'.
Now where on foam-crest waves the seagulls rock,
To their cliff-haven go the seagulls thence.
So too the shepherd gathers in his flock,
Because birds journey to their dens,
Tired sheep to their still fold.

A dark first bat swoops low and dips

About the shepherd who now sings
A song of timeless evenings;
For dusk is round him with wide wings,
Dusk murmurs on his moving lips.
 There is not mortal man who knows
From whence the shepherd's song arose:
It came a thousand years ago.

Once the world's shepherds woke to lead

The folded sheep that they might feed
On green downs where winds blow.

One shepherd sang a golden word.

A thousand miles away one heard.
One sang it swift, one sang it slow.

Two skylarks heard, two skylarks told

All shepherds this same song of gold
On all downs where winds blow.

This is the song that shepherds must

Sing till the green downlands be dust
And tide of sheep-drift no more flow;

The song two skylarks told again

To all the sheep and shepherd men
On green downs where winds blow.

SKYLARK NOON

Now the tall sky

Is pricked with stars of song as the sky at night
With stars of light.
I am loosened, I fly
Till never a lark is near to the sun as I.
Now through the steeps of air do my swift wings cut.
My wings are seen and not seen
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebookmass.com