Poems
Whiteside, Mary Brent & Walsh, Thomas
270 THE COMMONWEAL January 12, 1927 POEMS Tile Fair Gompaniom The Shah FeHdoun, haviny unsuccessfully carried his war-[are into the land of the Turks, was rescued by a fisher boat on the...
...Lo, I pass Unto my fathers, Shah...
...remember long The arching eyes, the slender waists of youth, The kiss beneath the golden moon, the lutes, The songs of Hafiz, all our boyish loves, Remember well !" And when he sank, the bark Leapt to the wind and bore the young Shah home...
...Then rose the Sheik of Zabor...
...The skies were blazing with a myriad lights...
...To Thee, my Zabor, faithful memories...
...Grim death Hung over them until a fisher hark Hove near...
...Hail, Mihrab, My best belov6d, who didst die for me That I might live--O ye, that died in vain...
...A miracle of which a craftsman might Dream half a lifetime, day and night...
...On his return to Teheran, the 8hah estab- lished an annual festival in their honor--Chronides of Bernart of Antibes...
...The cries of rage And slaughter rolled along the shore...
...His eyes are hard with pain, yet always seem To hold a dream beyond a dream...
...exclaimed The High Vizier Mazinderan, as lunged The fragile boat, half-sinking in the sea Beneath their weight...
...And turning, smashed the goblets 'gainst the lamp That burned before their places...
...Then haughty Abbas rose, The chosen war-companion of the Shah...
...And he, a broken man, swept down in state To wake with the companion ghosts of yore...
...Rebeck and flute and drum made glad acclaim...
...Yet where he sat among his urns and jars, Ranged like a ring of colored stars, I saw a crack run down the shining length Of one all beauty, and no strength...
...Through Teheran a burst of rockets, gongs, Rattles and horns, proclaimed the royal spread...
...Remember well Our boast of starry spears, our leopard hunts, Our campfires in the desert nights...
...It was his masterpiece of chaste design...
...270 THE COMMONWEAL January 12, 1927 POEMS Tile Fair Gompaniom The Shah FeHdoun, haviny unsuccessfully carried his war-[are into the land of the Turks, was rescued by a fisher boat on the coast of the Caspian Sea...
...MAa~v BRENT WHITESm...
...Allah is powerful to save...
...I think the potter prayed...
...Amid the hush Where every warrior, minded of his oath As tigress waves kept dashing on the boat, The Shah looked proudly round: "And who shall first Show fealty...
...Remember thou Of Abbas---of our jousts and crimson tilts And polo horses blue...
...THOMAS WALSH...
...But now the night of his great feast had come...
...he bowed his head...
...And when the frightened slaves had left the Shah Alone before the gorgeous board, laid out With plate and lamps of gold and precious wines, He raised his goblet to each empty seat: "Hail to thee, Abbas, thou art not forgot...
...the remnant of the hosts Piled on, and by a mighty surge were saved At sea, beyond the Turkish scimitars...
...reators The old rug-maker, ugliest of men, Might be Silenus come again...
...Then he Within the tempest, too, was swallowed down...
...As if, where periods meet, an eye could see And reach intangibility...
...For through those withered hands, in green and rose, The Persian tree of heaven grows-- A tree where hidden nightingales may wait Their hour to grow articulate...
...The slaves crept in and found him in the dark Moaning alone--while festal rockets burst From all the alleys through the lattices...
...His feasts were royal, but grim bitterness Grated his heart upon the pillowed throne...
...Then rising, cast his own lamp to the floor...
...Springtimes came crowding...
...And as he spoke And leaped into the sea the blood of youth Died from the heart of Feridoun the Shah...
...O Feridoun, farewell...
...The bark must sink if none make sacrifice That Feridoun shall live...
...But when The Turks had swarmed upon them, overthrown Their phalanxes and banners in the sand, A bloody flight ensued...
...The thing is destiny," he said, "For this that shatters, glorious bit by bit, Was greater than my dream of it...
...And at his side the old Khan Abbas rode, The Sheik of Zabor and the gay Mihrab, Chieftain of Khonsor of the Doves...
...Then Mihrab of the Doves: "Forget me not, O comrade of the heart...
...Of muted color, and pure line...
...soon the world forgot The fair companions where the aging Shah, Hedged round by slaves and courtiers, sat on high...
...The place the potter's soul must dwell within, Is free of virtue and of sin-- A secret place from which the infinite calls In tiny crystal intervals...
...As yet the cheek of Feridoun was smooth With boyhood, when with all his Persian hosts, He hurried forth to prove their conquering might Against the Turks beyond the Caspian...
...An ancient god with mockery on his lips, And magic at his finger tips...
...Then spoke the High Vizier: "O Feridoun, Thou shalt recall the chess of gold and jade, The silvery pools along our garden paths, And thy preceptor, old Mazinderan...
...O Son of Heaven," cried The fisherman, "our burden is too great...
...The number of his [ollowers proving too great for the size of the vessel, his courtiers emulated each other in sacrific~ar their lives by jumping into theb stormy waves...
...The hungry waves devoured him as he spoke...
Vol. 5 • January 1927 • No. 10
