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 More on poetry from The Atlantic Monthly. More poems by Edith Wharton: Ogrin the Hermit (1909) Mould and Vase (1901) Euryalus (1889) Wants (1880) Patience (1880) A Failure (1880) The Parting Day (1880) |
Areopagus
Where suns chase suns in rhythmic dance, by Edith Jones * ..... Where seeds are springing from the dust, Where mind sways mind with spirit-glance, High court is held, and law is just. No hill alone, a sovereign bar; Through space the fiery sparks are whirled That draw and cling, and shape a star,— That burn and cool, and form a world Whose hidden forces hear a voice That leads them by a perfect plan: "Obey," it cries, "with steadfast choice, Law shall complete what law began. "Refuse,—behold the broken arc, The sky of all its stars despoiled; The new germ smothered in the dark, The snow-pure soul with sin assoiled." The voice still saith, "While atoms weave Both world and soul for utmost joy, Who sins must suffer,—no reprieve; The law that quickens must destroy." * In 1885, at the age of twenty-three, Edith Jones married and took her husband's surname, becoming Edith Wharton.
Copyright © 2001 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved. The Atlantic Monthly; March 1880; Areopagus; Volume 45, No. 269; page 335. |
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