PART THE FOURTH

That night he dreamed that over him there stole

A change miraculous, whereby his soul

Was parted from his body for a space,

And through a labyrinth of secret ways

Entered the world where dead men's ghosts abide

To seek the Seer who yestermorn had died.

And there in very truth he found the Seer,

Who gazing on him said, “What would'st thou here,

O royal-born, who visitest the coasts

Of darkness, and the dwellings of the ghosts?”

Then said the Prince, “I fain would know to find

The land as yet untrod of mortal-kind

Which I beheld by gracious leave of Sleep.”

To whom the Spirit: “O Prince, the seas are deep

And very wide betwixt thee and that land,

And who shall say how many days do stand,

As dim-seen armed hosts between thy bliss

And thee?— Moreover, in the world there is

A certain Emerald Stone which some do call

The Emerald of the Virtues Mystical;

( Though what those Virtues Mystical may be

None living knows ) and since, O youth, to me

Thou dost apply for counsel, be it known

Except thou have this wondrous emerald stone,

Go seek through all the world, thou shalt not find

The land thou wouldst: but like the houseless wind

That roams the world to seek a resting-place,

Thou through inhospitable time and space

Shalt roam, till time and space deliver thee,

To spaceless, timeless, mute eternity.

“For in a certain land there once did dwell

( How long ago it needs not I should tell )

At the king's court a great astrologer,

Ev'n such as erst was I, but mightier

And far excelling; and it came to pass

That he fell sick; and very old he was;

And knowing that his end was nigh, he said

To him that sat in sorrow by his bed,

‘ O master well-beloved and matchless king,

Take thou and keep this lowly offering

In memory of thy servant;’ whereupon

The king perceived it was a gem that shone

Like the sea's heart: and on one side of it

This legend in an unknown tongue was writ —

Who holdeth Me may go where none hath fared

Before, and none shall follow afterward.

So the king took the bright green stone betwixt

His fingers, and upon the legend fixed

His eyes, and said unto the dying Seer,

‘ Now who shall render this dark scripture clear

That I may know the meaning of the gift?’

And the mage oped his mouth and strove to lift

His voice, but could not, for the wishèd word

Clave to his rattling throat, that no man heard:

Whereby the soul, departing, bore away

From all men living, even to this day,

The secret. And the jewel hath passed down

Seven times from sire to son, and in the crown

It shineth of that country's kings, being called

Ev'n to this day the mystic emerald;

But no man liveth in the world, of wit

To read the writing that is on it writ.”

“O Master,” said the Prince, “and wilt not thou

Instruct me where to find the king who now

Weareth the jewel in his diadem?”

To whom the Spirit, “O youth, and if the gem

Be worth the finding, is't not also worth

The little pain of seeking through the earth?—

Yet so thou may'st not wander witlessly,

Look thou forget not this I tell to thee:

When in thy journeyings thou shalt dream once more

The fateful dream thou haddest heretofore,

That filled thy veins with longing as with wine,

Till all thy being brimm'd over — by that sign

Thou mayest know thyself at last to be

Within the borders of his empery

Who hath the mystic emerald stone, whose gleam

Shall light thee to the country of thy dream.”

“But,” said the Prince, “When all the world's highways

My feet have trod, till after length of days

I reach the land where lies the wondrous stone,

How shall I make so rare a, thing mine own?

For had I riches more than could be told,

What king would sell his jewels for my gold?”

And on this wise the answer of the Seer

Fell in the hollow of his dreaming ear:

“Behold this Iron Chain,— of power it is

To heal all manner of mortal maladies

In him that wears it round his neck but once,

Between the sun's downgoing and the sun's

Uprising: take it thou, and hold it fast

Until by seeking long thou find at last

The king that hath the mystic emerald stone:

And having found him, thou shalt e'en make known

The virtues lodged within this charmed chain:

Which when the king doth hear he will be fain

To have possession of so strange a thing;

And thou shalt make a bargain with the king

To give the Iron Chain in bartery

For that mysterious jewel whereof he

Knows not the secret worth. And when at last

The emerald stone in thy own hands thou hast,

Itself shall guide thee whither thou would'st go —

Ev'n to the land revealed of sleep, where no

Grief comes to mar their music, neither sound

Of sighing, while the golden years go round.”

So spake the Spirit unto him that dreamed,

And suddenly that world of shadow seemed

More shadowy; and all things began to blend

Together: and the dream was at an end.

Then slept the Prince a deep sweet sleep that knew

Nor dream nor vision; till the dawnlight grew

Up, and his soul a sudden halt did make

About the confines dim of sleep and wake,

Where wandering lights and wildered shadows meet.

But presently uprising to his feet

From tarriance in that frontier-region dim,

Exceeding wonderment laid hold on him;

For even while from off his bed he rose,

He heard a clinking as of metal, close

Thereby, and could in no-wise understand:

And lo the Iron Chain was in his hand!