PARMENIDES ON THE NATURE OF THINGS.
I. The Journey
And so, behind that team of sapient steeds,
On the illustrious road divine that leads
The wise world-wanderer to his heart’s desire,
The straining car that bears me onward speeds ;
On, ever on, its forerunners a band
Of Maids. The axle-tree even as a brand
Smouldered, and shrilled a music as of pipes
To the twin wheels that rac’d on either hand,
When, once again from the dim house of night
Hastening upwards to the realms of light,
The Daughters of the Sun-God cast away
Their sable kerchiefs and their heads undight.
Here stands the portal where the paths divide
Of night and day ; stony the threshold, wide
The lintel ; filled with mighty doors it is,
By which the great Avenger doth abide, –
Justice, who grasps the ever-changing key.
Her did the Maids pursuade