Poems from the Inner Life

by Lizzie Doten

There is a power in man which is closely connected with the things of external life, and draws inspiration from nature and the associations of his fellow-men. There is a power, also, in every human being superior to the spirit, and that is the soul, or innermost life—which is a divine and indestructible principle. When, therefore, the garment of flesh is laid aside,—when the mortal puts on its immortality,—the spirit goes forth precisely as it is. If it has been under the influence of ungoverned passion; if it has striven, through mad ambition, to attain to some cherished ideal, still does it feel that impetus, and its earthly longings and aspirations must pass away through a gradual transformation. You may dissent from this, but the change of the earthly garment does not effect a radical change in the spirit. And thus, as the spirit of Edgar A. Poe started forth on its celestial journey, all that bound him to earth still held a certain degree of influence over him. “Life is one eternal progress,” and only by progression and the gradual development of his nobler nature could he outlive that bondage. In many respects he had loved life and the things of earth. In his intercourse with men he could not free himself from “the sins which did so easily beset him.” Neither could he restrain that sensitiveness and irritability of nature which so often destroyed the peace of his outer and inner life, and therefore he must necessarily outgrow that in higher conditions, and under more favorable influences. As he gradually attained to a sublimer consciousness of the beautiful and true, much of the wild and fitful fire peculiar to his genius departed from him, and there came in its stead a majestic flow of inspiration, solemn and grand as the music of the spheres. He saw that there were harmonious relations awaiting him; and as his soul was rich in sympathy and love, he aspired to those conditions, and he could not rest until he had attained unto them. The hinderance to his perfect peace was in his own spirit, and he realized it. It was for him the commencement of a mighty struggle,—

“When the golden bowl,—life’s token,—
Into shining shards was broken.”

It would seem, then, as though conscious of his strength, he stood up like a spiritual giant, exclaiming, “I am free! At last I am free!” There was a complete expansion of his being as he drank in the celestial air. He could not clearly understand the mysteries by which he was surrounded, but he knew that there was a latent energy in his soul, which, being more fully developed, would wrestle with these mighty problems until he made the solution his own. As year after year, marking great and important changes in human experience, rolled on, men who remembered Poe as he was, said, “Now he rests from life’s labor; now he sins and sorrows no more.”

But they did not know upon what a mighty battle-field he stood, neither could they understand through what fires of purification he was passing. But there he stood, contending bravely, not once losing faith in his soul’s possibilities, and pressing earnestly forward to the desired consummation. And in this he was not alone. O, no! There was with him a whole host of moral heroes, who, conscious of their power to win the victory, and quickened by the inspirations which they received from that higher state of being, were striving, by the excelsior movement of the soul, to attain to those glory-encircled heights from whence they could look calmly down upon the plane of their earthly existence.

Thus it was that, as they gradually arose higher and higher in the scale of being, he and they could perceive that all sin, and sorrow, and evil ended at length in blessing, and that truths, which were dim and indistinct, which seemed aught but truths, came out into clear and shining light, and in their heavens were stars of the first magnitude. Thus, also, as he toiled on he became versed in the mysteries of the spirit, not in mere moralities—for true religion, godliness or spirituality, is the full, free, and complete development of man’s entire being, both in the intellectual and moral. Science and literature, art and religion, have been separated by mankind, because they did not understand the true mystery of Godliness.

But in that higher life one of the first lessons taught to the soul is, that all things have their uses. Even the low, animal passions, leading man into error, into sin, sensuality, and evil, will thereby teach him lessons of wisdom; will teach him to avoid the false and the untrue, and also that there were rocks and quicksands upon which his bark had almost foundered, and which in the future he must avoid. Whether it be these lower passions, or the intellectual and moral, still each must have its own appropriate manifestation.

And as all these capacities for growth and perception belong not to the body but to the spirit, so the spirit, sweeping away into the great Eternity, bears up all these powers of its wondrous mechanism with it, and the vision of Ezekiel is realized; for “the living creature being lifted up, the wheels are lifted up also.”

Each organ of the brain has its own magnetic circle, touching the one upon another like the mechanism of a watch, and all governed by the main-spring, which is the internal consciousness of man, the central power of his being. This order in the change from the mortal to the immortal is not lost, but finds a more harmonious surrounding. Thus, when the spirit has ascended, with its increased power, with its superior opportunities for observation and investigation of all the truths of the universe, it learns this most important truth,—that not in one direction, but in all, the spirit shall find its most free and perfect development.

Thus having become familiar with the conditions of the higher life, the one of whom we speak realized that it was not in the poetic element of his being alone that he was to find inspiration, not in smooth flowing numbers or cunning arrangements of human speech, but in the grand harmony of the living whole—the perfect accord of his entire being. It was necessary, in passing forth from the flesh, that he should learn this simple lesson. He has endeavored by all the powers of his nature to make its application; and he has succeeded. This night he gives his “Farewell to Earth.” Not that he is to be divided forever in his interest from Humanity, but, no longer incited by restlessness or ambition, to express in rhythmic numbers the fiery thought within, no longer drawn by the sordid interests of this earthly life, he can gaze down upon this lower world and influence the minds of men, and still be above them. He can still minister, as an Everlasting Truth and living power, to the needs of Humanity; but as Poe, the individual, he is willing to be forgotten. His personality, as far as human recognition is concerned, can end here. He cares not that “this poor, paltry me should be spun out into Infinity.” He says: “Let my soul speak, which is the Divine Power. I have realized in myself the mysteries of Godliness, and know now that I too am Divine. I have merged and lost my will in the Great Will of the universe. I know now what heaven is; it is beauty, perfection, harmony. I would live forever in that celestial air, and draw in the vitalizing influences of truth. I do not desire to go down to the lowly homes of earth, nor to mingle with men in their contentions and selfish interests. I know that there is a Power guarding and guiding all things, and I can trust those whom I have loved, or those for whom I have cared, in that Almighty Hand. Whatever mysterious manifestation of wisdom on the part of Divine Providence comes to Humanity, I can say now, ‘It is well! Let the will of that Power be done!’ I have then no work to perform for you. I have only to carry with me through the vast Eternity an open nature, that I may receive truths, and, in passing onward, transmit them to those who are to follow after me.”

Thus it is with all great and earnest souls. “The mystery of Godliness,” or true spirituality, as an impelling and inspiring power, is behind them, making itself manifest through their being. It also stands before them, beckoning them on the way. It may be they have natures of steel and fire, and that a thought electric strikes upon the heart, and sits, a mania, on the brain. But still they feel that power impelling and persuading, and finally when they perceive that the grand current of human events is tending towards the great ocean of Infinite Truth, they are willing to let their own peculiarities and characteristic tendencies also flow on in the great stream, and so harmony is at length established, not only with themselves but all.