The Testament of John Davidson Author:John Davidson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE TESTAMENT OF JOHN DAVIDSON WHEN suddenly the world was closed to me, And every road against my passage barred, I found a door that opened into space ; I ... more »built a lodge celestial for myself, An outcast's palace in the Milky Way; I banqueted my body and my soul On light and sound, the substance of the stars, Ethereal tissue of eternity; And took my ease in heaven, the first of men To be and comprehend the Universe:— To know how all things are the infinite Imponderable ether that possessed Illimitable space with tension (pure Spontaneous energy, the pristine state Of matter and its last consummate doom) Before the galaxies with silver seamed The swart oblivion of the Universe, Or pearly nebula began to glow Upon the sable bosom of the night, Or any living nerve electric leapt To elemental ecstasy; and, most Atoning recompense, to feel myself Ethereal fabric, exquisitely spun, Entranced and wreathed of light and sound, thewarp And woof of matter; flesh and blood, a lyre Of tuneful colours; every nerve, a strain Of spheral music ; body, mind and soul, Material intensity evolved From unseen atoms, each a reservoir And ponderable treasury of power ; Infinitude condensed and garnered up In ions, to be sifted, blent, sublimed, Transmuted into life of every grade— Lightning, the sexes of eternity, Become a group of chosen elements In flower and beast, and capable in man Of knowledge, understanding, rapture, truth. Therefore it shook me when my senses lost The full material power of crystal vision And audience infinite, that could outstare A million suns, and happily engulf, As in a sea of sound, harmonic curves Reverberant through the ether; fathom depths Profound, and subtle darknesses unplumbed By asterism remote or shimmering waif, Comet or meteorite or shooting star ;...« less