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"Time passed; it seemed a moment, might have been an age; when from high in the golden haze that canopied this heaven, another angel came; its vans like East and West; a sunrise one, sunset the other. As silver-fish in vases, so, in his azure eyes swam tears unshed.
"Quick my guide close nested me; through its veins the waning light throbbed hard.
"'Oh, spirit! archangel! god! whate'er thou art,' it breathed; 'leave me: I am but blessed, not glorified.' "So saying, as down from doves, from its wings dropped sounds. Still nesting me, it crouched its plumes.
"Then, in a snow of softest syllables, thus breathed the greater and more beautiful:-'From far away, in fields beyond thy ken, I heard thy fond discourse with this lone Mardian. It pleased me well; for thy humility was manifeat; no arrogance of knowing. Come thou and learn new things.' "And straight it overarched us with its plumes; which, then, downsweeping, bore us up to regions where my first guide had sunk, but for the power that buoyed us, trembling, both.
"My eyes did wane, like moons eclipsed in overwhelming dawns: such radiance was around; such vermeil light, born of no sun, but pervading all the scene. Transparent, fleck-less, calm, all glowed one flame.
"Then said the greater guide This is the night of all ye here behold-its day ye could not bide. Your utmost heaven is far below.' "Abashed, smote down, I, quaking, upward gazed; where, to and fro, the spirits sailed, like broad-winged crimson-dyed flamingos, spiraling in sunset-clouds. But a sadness glorified, deep-fringed their mystic temples, crowned with weeping halos, bird-like, floating o'er them, whereso'er they roamed.
"Sights and odors blended. As when new-morning winds, in summer's prime, blow down from hanging gardens, wafting sweets that never pall; so, from those flowery pinions, at every motion, came a flood of fragrance.
"And now the spirits twain discoursed of things, whose very terms, to me, were dark. But my first guide grew wise. For me, I could but blankly list; yet comprehended naught; and, like the fish that's mocked with wings, and vainly seeks to fly;-again I sought my lower element.
"As poised, we hung in this rapt ether, a sudden trembling seized the four wings now folding me. And afar of, in zones still upward reaching, suns' orbits off, I, tranced, beheld an awful glory. Sphere in sphere, it burned:-the one Shekinah! The air was flaked with fire;-deep in which, fell showers of silvery globes, tears magnified — braiding the flame with rainbows. I heard a sound; but not for me, nor my first guide, was that unutterable utterance. Then, my second guide was swept aloft, as rises a cloud of red-dyed leaves in autumn whirlwinds.
"Fast clasping me, the other drooped, and, instant, sank, as in a vacuum; myriad suns' diameters in a breath;-my five senses merged in one, of falling; till we gained the nether sky, descending still.
"Then strange things-soft, sad, and faint, I saw or heard; as, when, in su
"'These,' breathed my guide, 'are spirits in their essences; sad, even in undevelopment. With these, all space is peopled;-all the air is vital with intelligence, which seeks embodiment. This it is, that unbeknown to Mardians, causes them to strangely start in solitudes of night, and in the fixed flood of their enchanted noons. From hence, are formed your mortal souls; and all those sad and shadowy dreams, and boundless thoughts man hath, are vague remembrances of the time when the soul's sad germ, wide wandered through these realms. And hence it is, that when ye Mardians feel most sad, then ye feel most immortal.
"Like a spark new-struck from flint, soon Mardi showed afar. It glowed within a sphere, which seemed, in space, a bubble, rising from vast depths to the sea's surface. Piercing it, my Mardian strength returned; but the angel's veins once more grew dim.
"Nearing the isles, thus breathed my guide:-'Loved one, love on! But know, that heaven hath no roof. To know all is to be all. Beatitude there is none. And your only Mardian happiness is but exemption from great woes-no more. Great Love is sad; and heaven is Love. Sadness makes the silence throughout the realms of space; sadness is universal and eternal; but sadness is tranquillity; tranquillity the uttermost that souls may hope for.' "Then, with its wings it fa
We heard the dream and, silent, sought repose, to dream away our wonder.
CHAPTER LXXXV
They Depart From Serenia
At sunrise, we stood upon the beach.
Babbalanja thus:-"My voyage is ended. Not because what we sought is found; but that I now possess all which may be had of what I sought in Mardi. Here, tarry to grow wiser still:-then I am Alma's and the world's. Taji! for Yillah thou wilt hunt in vain; she is a phantom that but mocks thee; and while for her thou madly huntest, the sin thou didst cries out, and its avengers still will follow. But here they may not come: nor those, who, tempting, track thy path. Wise counsel take. Within our hearts is all we seek: though in that search many need a prompter. Him I have found in blessed Alma. Then rove no more. Gain now, in flush of youth, that last wise thought, too often purchased, by a life of woe. Be wise: be wise.
"Media! thy station calls thee home. Yet from this isle, thou earnest that, wherewith to bless thy own. These flowers, that round us spring, may be transplanted: and Odo made to bloom with amaranths and myrtles, like this Serenia. Before thy people act the things, thou here hast heard. Let no man weep, that thou may'st laugh; no man toil too hard, that thou may'st idle be. Abdicate thy throne: but still retain the scepter. None need a king; but many need a ruler.
"Mohi! Yoomy! do we part? then bury in forgetfulness much that hitherto I've spoken. But let not one syllable of this old man's words be lost.
"Mohi! Age leads thee by the hand. Live out thy life; and die, calmbrowed.
"But Yoomy! many days are thine. And in one life's span, great circles may be traversed, eternal good be done. Take all Mardi for thy home.
Nations are but names; and continents but shifting sands.
"Once more: Taji! be sure thy Yillah never will be found; or found, will not avail thee. Yet search, if so thou wilt; more isles, thou say'st, are still unvisited; and when all is seen, return, and find thy Yillah here.
"Companions all! adieu."
And from the beach, he wended through the woods.
Our shallops now refitted, we silently embarked; and as we sailed away, the old man blessed us.
For a time, each prow's ripplings were distinctly heard: ripple after ripple.
With silent, steadfast eyes, Media still preserved his noble mien;
Mohi his reverend repose; Yoomy his musing mood.
But as a summer hurricane leaves all nature still, and smiling to the eye; yet, in deep woods, there lie concealed some anguished roots torn up:-so, with these.
Much they longed, to point our prows for Odo's isle; saying our search was over.
But I was fixed as fate.
On we sailed, as when we first embarked; the air was bracing as before. More isles we visited:-thrice encountered the avengers: but unharmed; thrice Hautia's heralds but turned not aside;-saw many checkered scenes-wandered through groves, and open fields-traversed many vales-climbed hill-tops whence broad views were gained-tarried in towns-broke into solitudes-sought far, sought near:-Still Yillah there was none.
Then again they all would fain dissuade me.
"Closed is the deep blue eye," said Yoomy.
"Fate's last leaves are turning, let me home and die," said Mohi.
"So nigh the circuit's done," said Media, "our morrow's sun must rise o'er Odo; Taji! renounce the hunt."