Post Lucum Part IV
Χάρις and un Autre
Χάρις1
100
“For such iniquity have I been smote,
And driven forth within this wilderness;2
Behold, O You Who cannot be denied,
Do not with me be angry, I am weak,
Unworthy and, by nature, evil fall’n,3
Nevertheless, has Mercy been to me.”4
Then He to me said: “What desirest thou?”5
And I to Him: “To know Her condescent.”6
101
And Justice spake: “She is the tree of life,”7
The fount of living water, and My love;8
Thou art cut off from Her, fallen and lost.9
Know thou the One besmeared and know Her fruit,10
For such is He, a child borne in Her arms.11
As She is love, without Her thou art naught,12
Wherefore must ye needs have of Her, or else
Thy kingdom and inheritance is lost.”13
102
“She is all gifts to those who eateth bread14
With sweaty face ‘til they return to Her.15
And as My ways and thoughts are not as thine,16
But higher still, know thus is She to Me.
To Me She is the earth that beareth up,
By wisdom clothed upon, as with a veil,17
With grace upon Her head poured out by love;18
‘Twas She Who reared thee on celestial plain.”19
103
“T’was She and I stood in the midst of all,
And saw and said that all were good.”20 Then I:
“But whence came we and what’s our wither too?
Whence came th’ elements of intellects
Ye stood among?” Then He said unto me:
That these two facts exist: should there be two,21
One’s more intelligent; there’s no Αlpha
Nor Omega these, they are both עו֗לָם22.”
104
“When animae incapable ye were,
As yet absent in pow’r to domineer,
‘By Us, the Artisans of better worlds,
Were ye all organized; of seed divine
And earth newborn from sky combined are ye;
By Our forethought We fixed Our effigy23
Upon thy spirit form, most fine and pure;24
As male and female made We thee as We.”25
105
“There is a grandeur in this view of life,”
Said I to Him, “that we orig’nally,
With our several pow’rs were breathed into
The dual form held by the twofold One;
And whilst this planet has gone circling on,
According to the laws thereon affixed,
That from so simple a beginning forms
Most beautiful and wonderful evolved.”26
106
Then Justice sang: “Thou art from everlast,27
Thou wert enclothed upon28 by Her, ere I,
To Whom vengeance is giv’n, revealed Myself;29
And when in darkness ye had foundered by
T’was Mercy held thee up;30 ‘twas She with Whom
I made dry land and sea.31 So harden not
Thy heart within this wilderness32 and come
Into My courts,33 the beauty of קֺדֶשׁ34.”
107
Before Him went a fire round about35
That gave the clouds and dark whence came His words,36
As lightning comes enlightening.37 And He:
“I do remember She that came to thee,38
Encircled thee around as with a robe;39
Thou shalt become as One besmeared by Me,
One put upon for cherubic embrace,
So by this ordinance I give to thee.”40
108
Enrobed by Her, and consecrate by Him,41
As sons by fathers are,42 before the door
Of sacredest, conceived to be 43קֺדֶשׁ
Along His word, as by a rod,44 I went;
In unto Her, the tree of life, I came.45
Having been placed within our primal home,46
Where enters nourishment we freely eat,47
I was drawn out with skin besmeared upon.48
109
So I had by the twofold One been heard,
Delivered from th’ accuser’s lips and tongue;49
T’was They Who organized the earth and heav’n
Who kept and overshadowed my right hand;50
I was made glad when They said unto me:
‘Come ye into Our house, within Our gates.’51
Mine eyes I raised as She came unto me!52
‘Twas She Who came against th’ accuser’s swell.53
110
As per my trust I saw th’ eternal mount,54
And there became Their seed by suffering,55
Their fruit and heritage,56 an olive plant
From Her, the fruitful vine57 Who is righteous.58
She heard this suppliant from out the deep;59
My soul She weaned,60 endued with righteousness.61
With His שֶׁמֶן62 was I besmeared upon.63
Within קֺדֶשׁ64 my hands I would upraise.65
un Autre66
111
Within and still, intent and fixed throughout,67
Over me broke a fire as had before.
The fire burned but I was not consumed,68
But given light and quickened was I now.69
Th’ twofold One reflecting ‘pon Themselves,70
They Two were rolled and bound by love to One.71
I heard my name; I heard “belov’d” and “son.”72
My self had gone and Other come instead.
J. Wayne Shaw is a husband, father, latin teacher and veteran.
Artwork by Hannah Craig.
Greek: “kah-ris.” “Grace.”
Ether 3:3
Ether 3:2
Ether 3:3
1 Ne. 11:10
1 Ne. 11:16
1 Ne. 11:11, 16
1 Ne. 11:25
Alma 42:6
Alma 5:34
1 Ne. 11:20
2 Ne. 26:30, Moroni 7:44, 46
Moroni 10:21
Hesiod, Works and Days, 81-2
Gen. 3:19
Isaiah 55:8
Hesiod, Theogeny 571-4
Hesiod, Works and Days, 65
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Poetical Works, p. 91
Abr. 3:23
Abr. 3:19
Abr. 3:18; Hebrew: “oh-lam.” “Eternal.”
Ovid, Met. 1:76-83
D&C 131:7
Gen. 1:27
Charles Darwin, Origin of Species, ch. 14
Ps. 93:2
Ps. 93:1
Ps. 94:1
Ps. 94:18
Ps. 95:5
Ps. 95:8
Ps. 96:8
Ps. 96:9; for the Hebrew see note 11.
Ps. 97:3
Ps. 97:2
Ps. 97:4
Ps. 98:3
2 Ne. 4:33, 9:14; 3 Ne. 11:8
Ps. 99:7
Ex. 28:41
Ex. 29:29; Gen. 1:27
See footnote 11.
1 Ne. 8:24
1 Ne. 8:30
Gen. 18:12
Gen. 2:16
Gen. 3:21
Ps. 120:1-2
Ps. 121:2, 5
Ps. 122:1-2
Ps. 123:1-2
Ps. 124:1-4
Ps. 125:1
Ps. 126:6
Ps. 127:3
Ps. 128:3
Ps. 129:4
Ps. 130:1-2
Ps. 131:2
Ps. 132:9
Hebrew: “sheh-men.” Oil for anointing.
Ps. 133:2
See footnote 11.
Ps. 134:2
French: “oon au-treh.” An other.
Dante, Paradiso 33:97-8
Ex. 3:2
D&C 88:11
Dante, Paradiso 33:118
Dante, Paradiso 33:86
JSH 1:17