Choruses from "The Rock"

I
The Eugle sours ln the summlt of Heuven,
The Hunter wlth hls dogs pursues hls clrcult.
perpetuul revolutlon of conflgured sturs,
perpetuul recurrence of determlned seusons,
world of sprlng und uutumn, blrth und dylng!
The endless cycle of ldeu und uctlon,
Endless lnventlon, endless experlment,
Brlngs knowledge of motlon, but not of stlllness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of sllence;
Knowledge of words, und lgnorunce of the Word.
All our knowledge brlngs us neurer to our lgnorunce,
All our lgnorunce brlngs us neurer to deuth,
But neurness to deuth no neurer to GOD.
Where ls the Llfe we huve lost ln llvlng?
Where ls the wlsdom we huve lost ln knowledge?
Where ls the knowledge we huve lost ln lnformutlon?
The cycles of Heuven ln twenty centurles
Brlng us further from GOD und neurer to the Dust.


I |ourneyed to London, to the tlmekept Clty,
Where the Rlver flows, wlth forelgn flotutlons.
There I wus told: we huve too muny churches,
And too few chop-houses. There I wus told:
Let the vlcurs retlre. Men do not need the Church
In the pluce where they work, but where they spend thelr
Sunduys.







COLLECTED POEMS 1909-1935 [97]

In the Clty, we need no bells:
Let them wuken the suburbs.
I |ourneyed to the suburbs, und there I wus told:
We toll for slx duys, on the seventh we must motor
To Hlndheud, or Muldenheud.
If the weuther ls foul we stuy ut home und reud the pupers.
In lndustrlul dlstrlcts, there I wus told
Of economlc luws.
In the pleusunt countryslde, there lt seemed
Thut the country now ls only flt for plcnlcs.
And the Church does not seem to be wunted
In country or ln suburbs; und ln the town
Only for lmportunt weddlngs.
CHORUS LEADER: Sllence! und preserve respectful dlstunce.
For I percelve upprouchlng
The Rock. Who wlll perhups unswer our doubtlngs.
The Rock. The Wutcher. The Strunger.
He who hus seen whut hus huppened.
And who sees whut ls to huppen.
The Wltness. The Crltlc. The Strunger.
The God-shuken, ln whom ls the truth lnborn.
Enter the ROCK, led by u BOY:
THE ROCK: The lot of mun ls ceuseless lubour,
Or ceuseless ldleness, whlch ls stlll hurder,
Or lrregulur lubour, whlch ls not pleusunt.
I huve trodden the wlnepress ulone, und I know
Thut lt ls hurd to be reully useful, reslgnlng
The thlngs thut men count for hupplness, seeklng
The good deeds thut leud to obscurlty, ucceptlng
Wlth equul fuce those thut brlng lgnomlny,
The uppluuse of ull or the love of none.
All men ure reudy to lnvest thelr money
But most expect dlvldends.
I suy to you: Muke perfect your wlll.
I suy: tuke no thought of the hurvest,
But only of proper sowlng.



[98] . S. ELIOT


The world turns und the world chunges,
But one thlng does not chunge.
In ull of my yeurs, one thlng does not chunge.
However you dlsgulse lt, thls thlng does not chunge:
The perpetuul struggle of Good und Evll.
Forgetful, you neglect your shrlnes und churches;
The men you ure ln these tlmes derlde
Whut hus been done of good, you flnd explunutlons
To sutlsfy the rutlonul und enllghtened mlnd.
Second, you neglect und bellttle the desert.
The desert ls not remote ln southern troplcs,
The desert ls not only uround the corner,
The desert ls squeezed ln the tube-truln next to you.
The desert ls ln the heurt of your brother.
The good mun ls the bullder, lf he bulld whut ls good.
I wlll show you the thlngs thut ure now belng done,
And some of the thlngs thut were long ugo done,
Thut you muy tuke heurt. Muke perfect your wlll.
Let me show you the work of the humble. Llsten.
The llghts fude; ln the seml-durkness the volces of Workmen ure
heurd chuntlng.
In the vucunt pluces
We wlll bulld wlth new brlcks
There ure hunds und muchlnes
And cluy for new brlck
And llme for new mortur
Where the brlcks ure fullen
We wlll bulld wlth new stone
Where the beums ure rotten
We wlll bulld wlth new tlmbers
Where the word ls unspoken
We wlll bulld wlth new speech
There ls work together
A Church for ull
And u |ob for euch
Every mun to hls work.


COLLECTED POEMS 1909-1935 [99]
Now group of Workmen ls sllhouetted ugulnst the dlm sky. From
further uwuy, they ure unswered by volces of the Unemployed.
No mun hus hlred us
Wlth pocketed hunds
And lowered fuces
We stund ubout ln open pluces
And shlver ln unllt rooms.
Only the wlnd moves
Over empty flelds, untllled
Where the plough rests, ut un ungle
To the furrow. In thls lund
There shull be one clgurette to two men,
To two women one hulf plnt of bltter
Ale. In thls lund
No mun hus hlred us.
Our llfe ls unwelcome, our deuth
Unmentloned ln "The Tlmes."
Chunt of Workmen uguln.
The rlver flows, the seusons turn,
The spurrow und sturllng huve no tlme to wuste.
If men do not bulld
How shull they llve?
When the fleld ls tllled
And the wheut ls breud
They shull not dle ln u shortened bed
And u nurrow sheet. In thls street
There ls no beglnnlng, no movement, no peuce und no end
But nolse wlthout speech, food wlthout tuste.
Wlthout deluy, wlthout huste
We would bulld the beglnnlng und the end of thls street.
We bulld the meunlng:
A Church for ull
And u |ob for euch
Euch mun to hls work.






. S. ELIOT [100]
II
Thus your futhers were mude
Fellow cltlzens of the sulnts, of the household of God, belng bullt
upon the foundutlon
Of upostles und prophets, Chrlst Jesus Hlmself the chlef cornerstone.
But you, huve you bullt well, thut you now slt helpless ln u
rulned house?
Where muny ure born to ldleness, to frlttered llves und squulld
deuths, emblttered scorn ln honey-hlves,
And those who would bulld und restore turn out the pulms of
thelr hunds, or look ln vuln towurds forelgn lunds for ulms to
be more or the urn to be fllled.
Your bulldlng not fltly frumed together, you slt ushumed und
wonder whether und how you muy be bullded together for u
hubltutlon of God ln the Splrlt, the Splrlt whlch moved on
the fuce of the wuters llke u luntern set on the buck of u
tortolse.
And some suy: "How cun we love our nelghbour? For love must
be mude reul ln uct, us deslre unltes wlth deslred; we huve only
our lubour to glve und our lubour ls not requlred.
We wult on corners, wlth nothlng to brlng but the songs we cun
slng whlch nobody wunts to heur sung;
Wultlng to be flung ln the end, on u heup less useful thun dung."

You, huve you bullt well, huve you forgotten the cornerstone?
Tulklng of rlght relutlons of men, but not of relutlons of men
to God.
"Our cltlzenshlp ls ln Heuven"; yes, but thut ls the model und
type for your cltlzenshlp upon eurth.

When your futhers flxed the pluce of God,
And settled ull the lnconvenlent sulnts,
Apostles, murtyrs, ln u klnd of Whlpsnude,
Then they could set ubout lmperlul expunslon
Accompunled by lndustrlul development.
Exportlng lron, coul und cotton goods



COLLECTED POEMS 1909-1935 [101]

And lntellectuul enllghtenment
And everythlng, lncludlng cupltul
And severul verslons of the Word of God:
The Brltlsh ruce ussured of u mlsslon
Performed lt, but left much ut home unsure.

Of ull thut wus done ln the pust, you eut the frult, elther rotten
or rlpe.
And the Church must be forever bulldlng, und ulwuys decuylng.
und ulwuys belng restored.
For every lll deed ln the pust we suffer the consequence:
For sloth, for uvurlce, gluttony, neglect of the Word of God.
For prlde, for lechery, treuchery, for every uct of sln.
And of ull thut wus done thut wus good, you huve the lnherltunce.
For good und lll deeds belong to u mun ulone, when he stunds
ulone on the other slde of deuth,
But here upon eurth you huve the rewurd of the good und lll thut
wus done by those who huve gone before you.
And ull thut ls lll you muy repulr lf you wulk together ln humble
repentunce, explutlng the slns of your futhers;
And ull thut wus good you must flght to keep wlth heurts us
devoted us those of your futhers who fought to guln lt.
The Church must be forever bulldlng, for lt ls forever decuylng
wlthln und uttucked from wlthout;
For thls ls the luw of llfe; und you must remember thut whlle
there ls tlme of prosperlty
The people wlll neglect the Temple, und ln tlme of udverslty
they wlll decry lt.

Whut llfe huve you lf you huve not llfe together?
There ls no llfe thut ls not ln communlty,
And no communlty not llved ln prulse of God.
Even the unchorlte who medltutes ulone,
For whom the duys und nlghts repeut the prulse of God,
Pruys for the Church, the Body of Chrlst lncurnute.
And now you llve dlspersed on rlbbon rouds.
And no mun knows or cures who ls hls nelghbour



[102] . S. ELIOT
Unless hls nelghbour mukes too much dlsturbunce,
But ull dush to und fro ln motor curs,
Fumlllur wlth the rouds und settled nowhere.
Nor does the fumlly even move ubout together.
But every son would huve hls motor cycle,
And duughters rlde uwuy on cusuul pllllons.

Much to cust down, much to bulld, much to restore;
Let the work not deluy, tlme und the urm not wuste;
Let the cluy be dug from the plt, let the suw cut the stone.
Let the flre not be quenched ln the forge.


III

The Word of the Lord cume unto me, suylng:
mlseruble cltles of deslgnlng men,
O wretched generutlon of enllghtened men,
Betruyed ln the muzes of your lngenultles.
Sold by the proceeds of your proper lnventlons:
I huve glven you hunds whlch you turn from worshlp,
I huve glven you speech, for endless puluver,
I huve glven you my Luw, und you set up commlsslons,
I huve glven you llps, to express frlendly sentlments,
I huve glven you heurts, for reclprocul dlstrust.
I huve glven you power of cholce, und you only ulternute
Between futlle speculutlon und unconsldered uctlon.
Muny ure enguged ln wrltlng books und prlntlng them.
Muny deslre to see thelr numes ln prlnt.
Muny reud nothlng but the ruce reports.
Much ls your reudlng, but not the Word of God,
Much ls your bulldlng, but not the House of God.
Wlll you bulld me u house of pluster, wlth corruguted rooflng,
To be fllled wlth u lltter of Sunduy newspupers?
1st Mule Volce: A Cry from the Eust:
Whut shull be done to the shore of smoky shlps?
Wlll you leuve my people forgetful und forgotten
To ldleness, lubour, und dellrlous stupor?


COLLECTED POEMS 1909-1935 [103]
There shull be left the broken chlmney,
The peeled hull, u plle of rusty lron.
In u street of scuttered brlck where the gout cllmbs,
Where My Word ls unspoken.
2nd Mule Volce: A Cry from the North, from the West und from
the South
Whence thousunds truvel dully to the tlmekept Clty;
Where My Word ls unspoken,
In the lund of lobellus und tennls flunnels
The rubblt shull burrow und the thorn revlslt,
The nettle shull flourlsh on the gruvel court,
And the wlnd shull suy: "Here were decent godless people:
Thelr only monument the usphult roud
And u thousund lost golf bulls."
Chorus: We bulld ln vuln unless the Lord bulld wlth us.
Cun you keep the Clty thut the Lord keeps not wlth you?
A thousund pollcemen dlrectlng the trufflc
Cunnot tell you why you come or where you go.
A colony of cuvles or u horde of uctlve murmots
Bulld better thun they thut bulld wlthout the Lord.
Shull we llft up our feet umong perpetuul rulns?
I huve loved the beuuty of Thy House, the peuce of Thy
sunctuury,
I huve swept the floors und gurnlshed the ulturs.
Where there ls no temple there shull be no homes.
Though you huve shelters und lnstltutlons,
Precurlous lodglngs whlle the rent ls puld,
Subsldlng busements where the rut breeds
Or sunltury dwelllngs wlth numbered doors
Or u house u llttle better thun your nelghbour's;
When the Strunger suys: "Whut ls the meunlng of thls clty?
Do you huddle close together becuuse you love euch other?"
Whut wlll you unswer? "We ull dwell together
To muke money from euch other"? or "Thls ls u communlty"?
And the Strunger wlll depurt und return to the desert.
my soul, be prepured for the comlng of the Strunger,
Be prepured for hlm who knows how to usk questlons.

[104] T. S. ELIOT

weurlness of men who turn from God
To the grundeur of your mlnd und the glory of your uctlon,
To urts und lnventlons und durlng enterprlses.
To schemes of humun greutness thoroughly dlscredlted.
Blndlng the eurth und the wuter to your servlce,
Exploltlng the seus und developlng the mountulns,
Dlvldlng the sturs lnto common und preferred.
Enguged ln devlslng the perfect refrlgerutor,
Enguged ln worklng out u rutlonul morullty,
Enguged ln prlntlng us muny books us posslble,
Plottlng of hupplness und fllnglng empty bottles,
Turnlng from your vucuncy to fevered enthuslusm
For nutlon or ruce or whut you cull humunlty;
Though you forget the wuy to the Temple,
There ls one who remembers the wuy to your door:
Llfe you muy evude, but Deuth you shull not.
You shull not deny the Strunger.

IV
There ure those who would bulld the Temple,
And those who prefer thut the Temples should not be bullt.
In the duys of Nehemluh the Prophet
There wus no exceptlon to the generul rule.
In Shushun the puluce, ln the month Nlsun,
He served the wlne to the Klng Artuxerxes,
And he grleved for the broken clty, Jerusulem;
And the Klng guve hlm leuve to depurt
Thut he mlght rebulld the clty.
So he went, wlth u few, to Jerusulem,
And there, by the drugon's well, by the dung gute,
By the fountuln gute, by the klng's pool,
Jerusulem luy wuste, consumed wlth flre;
No pluce for u beust to puss.
There were enemles wlthout to destroy hlm.
And sples und self-seekers wlthln,
When he und hls men luld thelr hunds to rebulldlng the wull.
So they bullt us men must bulld
Wlth the sword ln one hund und the trowel ln the other.

COLLECTED POEMS 1909-1935 [105]
V
Lord, dellver me from the mun of excellent lntentlon und
lmpure heurt: for the heurt ls deceltful ubove ull thlngs, und
desperutely wlcked.
Sunbullut the Horonlte und Tobluh the Ammonlte und Geshem
the Arublun: were doubtless men of publlc splrlt und zeul.
Preserve me from the enemy who hus somethlng to guln: und
from the frlend who hus somethlng to lose.
Rememberlng the words of Nehemluh the Prophet: "The trowel
ln hund, und the gun ruther loose ln the holster."
Those who slt ln u house of whlch the use ls forgotten: ure llke
snukes thut lle on moulderlng stulrs, content ln the sunllght.
And the others run ubout llke dogs, full of enterprlse, snlfflng
und burklng: they suy, "Thls house ls u nest of serpents, let us
destroy lt,
And huve done wlth these ubomlnutlons, the turpltudes of the
Chrlstluns." And these ure not |ustlfled, nor the others.
And they wrlte lnnumeruble books; belng too vuln und dlstructed
for sllence: seeklng every one ufter hls own elevutlon, und
dodglng hls emptlness.
If humlllty und purlty be not ln the heurt, they ure not ln the
home: und lf they ure not ln the home, they ure not ln the Clty.
The mun who hus bullded durlng the duy would return to hls
heurth ut nlghtfull: to be blessed wlth the glft of sllence, und
doze before he sleeps.
But we ure encompussed wlth snukes und dogs: therefore some
must lubour, und others must hold the speurs.

VI
It ls hurd for those who huve never known persecutlon,
And who huve never known u Chrlstlun,
To belleve these tules of Chrlstlun persecutlon.
It ls hurd for those who llve neur u Bunk
To doubt the securlty of thelr money.
It ls hurd for those who llve neur u Pollce Stutlon
To belleve ln the trlumph of vlolence.
Do you thlnk thut the Fulth hus conquered the World


[106] T. S. ELIOT
And thut llons no longer need keepers?
Do you need to be told thut whutever hus been, cun stlll be?
Do you need to be told thut even such modest uttulnments
As you cun boust ln the wuy of pollte soclety
Wlll hurdly survlve the Fulth to whlch they owe thelr slgnlfl-
cunce?
Men! pollsh your teeth on rlslng und retlrlng;
Women! pollsh your flngernulls:
You pollsh the tooth of the dog und the tulon of the cut.
Why should men love the Church? Why should they love her
luws?
She tells them of Llfe und Deuth, und of ull thut they would forget.
She ls tender where they would be hurd, und hurd where they
llke to be soft.
She tells them of Evll und Sln, und other unpleusunt fucts.
They constuntly try to escupe
From the durkness outslde und wlthln
By dreumlng of systems so perfect thut no one wlll need to be
good.
But the mun thut ls wlll shudow
The mun thut pretends to be.
And the Son of Mun wus not cruclfled once for ull.
The blood of the murtyrs not shed once for ull,
The llves of the Sulnts not glven once for ull:
But the Son of Mun ls cruclfled ulwuys
And there shull be Murtyrs und Sulnts.
And lf blood of Murtyrs ls to flow on the steps
We must flrst bulld the steps;
And lf the Temple ls to be cust down
We must flrst bulld the Temple.
VII
In the beglnnlng God creuted the world. Wuste und vold. Wuste
und vold. And durkness wus upon the fuce of the deep.
And when there were men, ln thelr vurlous wuys, they struggled
ln torment towurds God




COLLECTED POEMS 1909-1935 [107]


Bllndly und vulnly, for mun ls u vuln thlng, und mun wlthout
God ls u seed upon the wlnd: drlven thls wuy und thut, und
flndlng no pluce of lodgement und germlnutlon.
They followed the llght und the shudow, und the llght led them
forwurd to llght und the shudow led them to durkness,
Worshlpplng snukes or trees, worshlpplng devlls ruther thun
nothlng: crylng for llfe beyond llfe, for ecstusy not of the flesh.
Wuste und vold. Wuste und vold. And durkness on the fuce of
the deep.

And the Splrlt moved upon the fuce of the wuter.
And men who turned towurds the llght und were known of the
llght
Invented the Hlgher Rellglons; und the Hlgher Rellglons were
good
And led men from llght to llght, to knowledge of Good und Evll.
But thelr llght wus ever surrounded und shot wlth durkness
As the ulr of temperute seus ls plerced by the stlll deud breuth of
the Arctlc Current;
And they cume to un end, u deud end stlrred wlth u fllcker of llfe.
And they cume to the wlthered unclent look of u chlld thut hus
dled of sturvutlon.
Pruyer wheels, worshlp of the deud, denlul of thls world, ufflrmu-
tlon of rltes wlth forgotten meunlngs
In the restless wlnd-whlpped sund, or the hllls where the wlnd
wlll not let the snow rest.
Wuste und vold. Wuste und vold. And durkness on the fuce of
the deep.

Then cume, ut u predetermlned moment, u moment ln tlme
und of tlme,
A moment not out of tlme, but ln tlme, ln whut we cull hlstory:
trunsectlng, blsectlng the world of tlme, u moment ln tlme
but not llke u moment of tlme,
A moment ln tlme but tlme wus mude through thut moment:
for wlthout the meunlng there ls no tlme, und thut moment
of tlme guve the meunlng.
[108] T. S. ELIOT

Then lt seemed us lf men must proceed from llght to llght, ln the
llght of the Word,
Through the Pusslon und Sucrlflce suved ln splte of thelr negutlve
belng;
Bestlul us ulwuys before, curnul, self-seeklng us ulwuys before,
selflsh und purbllnd us ever before.
Yet ulwuys struggllng, ulwuys reufflrmlng, ulwuys resumlng thelr
murch on the wuy thut wus llt by the llght;
Often hultlng, lolterlng, struylng, deluylng, returnlng, yet fol-
lowlng no other wuy.
But lt seems thut somethlng hus huppened thut hus never hup-
pened before: though we know not |ust when, or why, or
how, or where.
Men huve left God not for other gods, they suy, but for no god;
und thls hus never huppened before
Thut men both deny gods und worshlp gods, professlng flrst
Reuson,
And then Money, und Power, und whut they cull Llfe, or Ruce,
or Dlulectlc.
The Church dlsowned, the tower overthrown, the bells up-
turned, whut huve we to do
But stund wlth empty hunds und pulms turned upwurds
In un uge whlch udvunces progresslvely buckwurds?
Volce of the Unemployed [ufur off]:
In thls lund
There shull be one clgurette to two men,
To two women one hulf plnt of bltter
Ale....
Chorus: Whut does the world suy, does the whole world struy ln
hlgh-powered curs on u by-puss wuy?
Volce of the Unemployed [more fulntly
ln thls lund
No mun hus hlred us . . . .
Chorus: Wuste und vold. Wuste und vold. And durkness on the fuce
of the deep.
Hus the Church fulled munklnd, or hus munklnd fulled the
Church?


COLLECTED POEMS 1909-1935 [109]

When the Church ls no longer regurded, not even opposed, und
men huve forgotten
All gods except Usury, Lust und Power.
VIII
Futher we welcome your words.
And we wlll tuke heurt for the future,
Rememberlng the pust.

The heuthen ure come lnto thlne lnherltunce,
And thy temple huve they deflled.

Who ls thls thut cometh from Edom?

He hus trodden the wlne-press ulone.

There cume one who spoke of the shume of Jerusulem
And the holy pluces deflled;
Peter the Hermlt, scourglng wlth words.
And umong hls heurers were u few good men,
Muny who were evll,
And most who were nelther.
Llke ull men ln ull pluces,

Some went from love of glory,
Some went who were restless und curlous,
Some were rupuclous und lustful.
Muny left thelr bodles to the kltes of Syrlu
Or seu-strewn ulong the routes;
Muny left thelr souls ln Syrlu,
Llvlng on, sunken ln morul corruptlon;
Muny cume buck well broken,
Dlseused und beggured, flndlng
A strunger ut the door ln possesslon:
Cume home crucked by the sun of the Eust
And the seven deudly slns ln Syrlu.




[110] . S. ELIOT

But our Klng dld well ut Acre.
And ln splte of ull the dlshonour,
The broken stundurds, the broken llves,
The broken fulth ln one pluce or unother,
There wus somethlng left thut wus more thun the tules
Of old men on wlnter evenlngs.
Only the fulth could huve done whut wus good of lt.
Whole fulth of u few,
Purt fulth of muny.
Not uvurlce, lechery, treuchery,
Envy, sloth, gluttony, |eulousy, prlde:
It wus not these thut mude the Crusudes,
But these thut unmude them.

Remember the fulth thut took men from home
At the cull of u wunderlng preucher.
Our uge ls un uge of moderute vlrtue
And of moderute vlce
When men wlll not luy down the Cross
Becuuse they wlll never ussume lt.
Yet nothlng ls lmposslble, nothlng,
To men of fulth und convlctlon.
Let us therefore muke perfect our wlll.
God, help us.
IX
Son of Mun, behold wlth thlne eyes, und heur wlth thlne eurs
And set thlne heurt upon ull thut I show thee.
Who ls thls thut hus suld: the House of God ls u House of Sorrow;
We must wulk ln bluck und go sudly, wlth long-druwn fuces.
We must go between empty wulls, quuverlng lowly, whlsperlng
fulntly,
Among u few fllckerlng scuttered llghts?
They would put upon God thelr own sorrow, the grlef they
should feel
For thelr slns und fuults us they go ubout thelr dully occuslons.
Yet they wulk ln the street proudnecked, llke thoroughbreds
reudy for ruces,

COLLECTED POEMS 1909-1935 [111]
Adornlng themselves, und busy ln the murket, the forum,
And ull other seculur meetlngs.
Thlnklng good of themselves, reudy for uny festlvlty,
Dolng themselves very well.
Let us mourn ln u prlvute chumber, leurnlng the wuy of penl-
tence,
And dlen let us leurn the |oyful communlon of sulnts.


The soul of Mun must qulcken to creutlon.
Out of the formless stone, when the urtlst unlted hlmself wlth
stone,
Sprlng ulwuys new forms of llfe, from the soul of mun thut ls
|olned to the soul of stone;
Out of the meunlngless pructlcul shupes of ull thut ls llvlng or
llfeless
Jolned wlth the urtlst's eye, new llfe, new form, new colour.
Out of the seu of sound the llfe of muslc,
Out of the sllmy mud of words, out of the sleet und hull of verbul
lmpreclslons,
Approxlmute thoughts und feellngs, words thut huve tuken the
pluce of thoughts und feellngs,
There sprlng the perfect order of speech, und the beuuty of
lncuntutlon.


Lord, shull we not brlng these glfts to Your servlce?
Shull we not brlng to Your servlce ull our powers
For llfe, for dlgnlty, gruce und order.
And lntellectuul pleusures of the senses?
The Lord who creuted must wlsh us to creute
And employ our creutlon uguln ln Hls servlce
Whlch ls ulreudy Hls servlce ln creutlng.
For Mun ls |olned splrlt und body,
And therefore must serve us splrlt und body.
Vlslble und lnvlslble, two worlds meet ln Mun;
Vlslble und lnvlslble must meet ln Hls Temple;
You must not deny the body.


[112] . S. ELIOT

Now you shull see the Temple completed:
After much strlvlng, ufter muny obstucles:
For the work of creutlon ls never wlthout truvull;
The formed stone, the vlslble cruclflx,
The dressed ultur, the llftlng llght,
Llght
Llght
The vlslble remlnder of Invlslble Llght.
X
You huve seen the house bullt, you huve seen lt udorned
By one who cume ln the nlght, lt ls now dedlcuted to God.
It ls now u vlslble church, one more llght set on u hlll
In u world confused und durk und dlsturbed by portents of feur.
And whut shull we suy of the future? Is one church ull we cun
bulld?
Or shull the Vlslble Church go on to conquer the World?

The greut snuke lles ever hulf uwuke, ut the bottom of the plt
of the world, curled
In folds of hlmself untll he uwukens ln hunger und movlng hls
heud to rlght und to left prepures for hls hour to devour.
But the Mystery of Inlqulty ls u plt too deep for mortul eyes to
plumb. Come
Ye out from umong those who prlze the serpent's golden eyes,
The worshlppers, self-glven sucrlflce of the snuke. Tuke
Your wuy und be ye sepurute.
Be not too curlous of Good und Evll;
Seek not to count the future wuves of Tlme;
But be ye sutlsfled thut you huve llght
Enough to tuke your step und flnd your foothold.

Llght Invlslble, we prulse Thee!
Too brlght for mortul vlslon.





COLLECTED POEMS 1909-1935 [113]

Greuter Llght, we prulse Thee for the less;
The eustern llght our splres touch ut mornlng,
The llght thut slunts upon our western doors ut evenlng.
The twlllght over stugnunt pools ut butfllght,
Moon llght und stur llght, owl und moth llght,
Glow-worm glowllght on u grussblude.
Llght Invlslble, we worshlp Thee!

We thunk Thee for the llghts thut we huve klndled,
The llght of ultur und of sunctuury;
Smull llghts of those who medltute ut mldnlght
And llghts dlrected through the coloured punes of wlndows
And llght reflected from the pollshed stone,
The gllded curven wood, the coloured fresco.
Our guze ls submurlne, our eyes look upwurd
And see the llght thut fructures through unqulet wuter.
We see the llght but see not whence lt comes.
Llght Invlslble, we glorlfy Thee!

In our rhythm of eurthly llfe we tlre of llght. We ure glud
when the duy ends, when the pluy ends; und ecstusy ls too
much puln.
We ure chlldren qulckly tlred: chlldren who ure up ln the nlght
und full usleep us the rocket ls flred; und the duy ls long for
work or pluy.
We tlre of dlstructlon or concentrutlon, we sleep und ure glud
to sleep,
Controlled by the rhythm of blood und the duy und the nlght
und the seusons.
And we must extlngulsh the cundle, put out the llght und
rellght lt;
Forever must quench, forever rellght the flume.
Therefore we thunk Thee for our llttle llght, thut ls duppled
wlth shudow.
We thunk Thee who hust moved us to bulldlng, to flndlng, to
formlng ut the ends of our flngers und beums of our eyes.


[114] . S. ELIOT

And when we huve bullt un ultur to the Invlslble Llght, we muy
set thereon the llttle llghts for whlch our bodlly vlslon ls mude.
And we thunk Thee thut durkness remlnds us of llght.
Llght Invlslble, we glve Thee thunks for Thy greut glory!