Song of the Universal
Key
| Textual Feature | Appearance |
|---|---|
| Overwritten | brown with strikethrough |
| Added inline | purple with double underline |
| Uncertain | gray with wavy underline |
| Supplied from another source | turquoise with brackets |
| Metamark | |
| Long deletion | gray background with top and bottom border |
[begin leaf 1 recto]
unconceal'd the seed is waiting.
Yet again, lo! the Soul—above all science;
For it, the Soul, has entire History gathered
like husks around the globe; For it,the Soul, the ^entire star myriads
roll through
the sky. In spiral roads, by long detours, (As a much-tacking ship upon the sea,) For it, theRea partial to the permanent
flowing,
For it, the Real to the Ideal tends.
For it, the mystic evolution;
Nor the right only justified—what we call evil
also justified. Forth from their masks, no matter what, From the huge, festering trunk—from craft and
guile & tears, Health to emerge, & joy—joy universal. [begin leaf 3 recto]
Out of the bulk, the morbid & the shallow,
Out of the bad majority—the varied, countless
frauds of men and states, Electric, antiseptic yet—cleaving, suffusing all, Only the little Good is universal.
of sin,
disease &
sorrow,
An uncaught bird is ever hovering, hovering,
High in the pure and happy air.
From imperfection's murkiest cloud,
Darts always fl forth one ray of perfect
light,
One flash of heaven's glory.
To fashion's, custom's discord,
To the mad Babel-din, the deafening
oro
orgies,
Soothing each lull a strain is heard, just heard,
From some far shore, the final chorus sounding.
[begin leaf 4 recto]
its Reality, For these, (not for thyself,) Thou hast arrived. Thou too surroundest all; Embracing, carrying, welcoming all, Thou too, by
pathways broad & new, To the Ideal tendest. The measur'd faiths of other lands—the grandeurs
of the past, Are not for Thee, but grandeurs of Thine own, Deific faiths & amplitudes, absorbing, comprehending
all, All eligible to all.
[begin leaf 5 recto]
All, all for Immortality!
Love, like the light, silently wrapping all!
Nature's amelioration blessing all!
The blossoms, fruits of many ages ripening—orchards
divine & certain; Forms, objects, growths, humanities, to Spiritual Im-
ages ripening.
heaven,
God,
to sing that thought!
Give me—give him or her I love this quenchless
faith, In Thy ensemble—whatever else withheld, withhold
not from us, Belief in ^universal planeventual of Thee enclosed in
Time
& Space, Health, peace, salvation universal. Is it a dream? Nay, but the lack of it the dream, And, failing it, life's lore & wealth a dream, And all the world a dream.
Song of the Universal
1
Come, said the Muse, Sing me a song no poet yet has chanted, Sing me the Universal. In this broad Earth of ours, Amid the measureless grossness & the slag, Enclosed & safe within its central heart, Nestles the seed Perfection. By every life a share, or more or less, None born but it is born—conceal'd orunconceal'd the seed is waiting.
2
Lo! keen-eyed, towering science! As from tall peaks the Modern overlooking, Successive, absolute fiats issuing. [begin leaf 2 recto]
Yet again, lo! the Soul—above all science;
For it, like husks around the globe; For it,
the sky. In spiral roads, by long detours, (As a much-tacking ship upon the sea,) For it, the
also justified. Forth from their masks, no matter what, From the huge, festering trunk—from craft and
guile & tears, Health to emerge, & joy—joy universal. [begin leaf 3 recto]
Out of the bulk, the morbid & the shallow,
Out of the bad majority—the varied, countless
frauds of men and states, Electric, antiseptic yet—cleaving, suffusing all, Only the little Good is universal.
3
Over the mountain growths
4.
O the blest eyes! the happy hearts! That see—that know the guiding thread so fine, Along the mighty labyrinth!5
And thou, America! For the Scheme's culmination—its Thought, &its Reality, For these, (not for thyself,) Thou hast arrived. Thou too surroundest all; Embracing, carrying, welcoming all, Thou too, by
pathways broad & new, To the Ideal tendest. The measur'd faiths of other lands—the grandeurs
of the past, Are not for Thee, but grandeurs of Thine own, Deific faiths & amplitudes, absorbing, comprehending
all, All eligible to all.
[begin leaf 5 recto]
All, all for Immortality!
Love, like the light, silently wrapping all!
Nature's amelioration blessing all!
The blossoms, fruits of divine & certain; Forms, objects, growths, humanities, to Spiritual Im-
ages ripening.
6
Give me, Ofaith, In Thy ensemble—whatever else withheld, withhold
not from us, Belief in ^universal plan
& Space, Health, peace, salvation universal. Is it a dream? Nay, but the lack of it the dream, And, failing it, life's lore & wealth a dream, And all the world a dream.