CHORUS.
In jewelled palanquin
On the Way of Wisdom you are borne; here shall you learn
That the flower of glory fades like a moment’s dream.
See, you are become a cloud-man of the sky.[149]
The palaces of ancient kings
Rise up before you, Abō’s Hall, the Dragon’s Tower;[150]
High over the tall clouds their moonlit gables gleam.
The light wells and wells like a rising tide.[151]
Oh splendid vision! A courtyard strewn
With golden and silver sand;
And they that at the four sides
Pass through the jewelled door are canopied
With a crown of woven light.
In the Cities of Heaven, in the home of Gods, I had thought,
Shine such still beams on walls of stone;
Never on palace reared by hands of men.
Treasures, a thousand kinds, ten thousand kinds,
Tribute to tribute joined, a myriad vassal-kings
Cast down before the Throne.
Flags of a thousand lords, ten thousand lords
Shine many-coloured in the sky,
And the noise of their wind-flapping
Rolls round the echoing earth.
ROSEI.
And in the east
CHORUS.
Over a silver hill of thirty cubits height
A golden sun-wheel rose.
ROSEI.
And in the west
Over a golden hill of thirty cubits height
A silver moon-wheel rose,
To prove his words who sang
“In the Palace of Long Life[152]
The Springs and Autumns cease.
Before the Gate of Endless Youth[153]
The days and months pass slow.”[154]
COURTIER.