Do As Thou Wilt

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Do As Thou Wilt

Poem- In Invocation to the Master #259

I but asked Thee for Homer’s strain
Or a wide vision all Shakespearean,
Lyrical beauty of a Valmiki 
Or Vyasa’s vein of kingly poetry;
Like an epic, I said, must it be
All that Thou makest of me,
Glory and despair, rise and fall,
Grandeur and ruin, all without equal,
But Thou, what hast Thou given instead,
This pale wine and meagre bread?
Where are the gods I must war
By sure throw of a lightning-spear,
Where the demons I must fight 
Through fields of subconscient night?
What valour in dull routine there is
Of a repeating labour like Sisyphus?
To soar the empyrean skies I asked,
And like Icarus am inaptly winged?
Every weakness keeps my company,
Every trait of black infamy,
I asked Thee for the light and dark,
But Thou dost confer only the bleak!
Dost Thou my anguish savour,
From winepress of events a wine without peer?
Or are my cries like some subtle hymn
Heard rarely in some temple solemn,
That Thou must extend its lease
For the pleasure of Thy subtle ears?
Much too cruel Thou art,
If only reason could sway my adoring heart!
Do as Thou wilt, I shall care no more,
When all is done I’ll dispute Thy score.