The Hymns of Arcanus

By Steven Parris Ward

Revealed in a dream, the angel Arcanus observes the sufferings of Mankind on Earth, and offers with its tears, hymns of consolation and condemnation. These carefully wrought poems represent a complete cycle focusing on spiritual, religious, environmental and political issues.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Jul 13, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453537350

Steven Parris Ward

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The Hymns of Arcanus

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Dr. Steven Parris Ward

Copyright © 2010 by Dr. Steven Parris Ward.

ISBN:            Softcover                978-1-4535-3734-3

                      eBook                     978-1-4535-3735-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 05/03/2019

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CONTENTS

Preface to the Hymns of Arcanus

Prelude—Lachrimosa (the angel’s tears)

‘The tears of condemnation’

Humanitas

De Harmonia Mundi.

Before the Seventh Seal

The Leviathan

The Flight of Icarus

The time shall come when God the tree . . .

‘The tears of consolation’

Thanatos

De Anima.

Fragments on the Sun and Moon

The death of Hyacinthus.

Epiphany

The Mystic Marriage.

Coda: The angel’s prophecies.

The Ballads on Stars and Sorrow (and other poems).

Lesbians

La Belle Noir

Visions

On seeing Isabella unexpectedly

On the art and death of Rudolf Nureyev

Mist on Lake Windermere

Eulogy for an unnamed girl

The Penitent

Love Sonnets

Love’s Mistress

Love’s Measure

Love’s Offspring

If love a cynic leaves . . .

Love’s Vows.

Love’s Parting

Love’s Testimony

Cold stars bear witness

I Bacchus

Confessional

Sympatheia

In Memoriam: Ezra Pound (on holy ground)

Night scenes from the past whilst on the road.

Nijinsky

Fragments

Appassionata

Strong arms—so rest your gentle head

Frontline

The Days of Wrath

Memento Mori

On meeting a beggar boy in Calcutta

Still Life

In Praise of Spring

Preface

to the Hymns of Arcanus

Who or what is Arcanus? In these poems, Arcanus is the angel who bears witness to the sufferings of mankind. Arcanus represents the higher aspirations and spiritual faculty (characterised as reason and compassion) of the individual, and indeed the human race. A more evolved consciousness of the cosmos. Its transcendence and its position, separated as it were by the silver bars of heaven, is not simply an implication that it is powerless to intervene in the affairs of mankind, but also that mankind has yet to fully realise its own more developed levels of consciousness. These are latently present, but are as yet not fully attained. In this respect, Arcanus’ position is one placed as a faculty unrealised. Unlike Arcanus, mankind’s consciousness is predominantly rational, and the faculty of compassion is latent. It thus has yet to evolve to a complete realisation of the immediacy of the angel’s presence, or to the productive fulfilment and practical implementation of the effects which such a more developed state of consciousness would bring.

Man’s existence on this planet may be defined by numerous characteristic and sometimes conflicting impulses. The most universal is, however, the desire for order. This is the nature and impulse defining the drive to self realisation for Man. In Man it has been manifest for example, in the construction of civilisations, religions, philosophical theories, and scientific fields of study. In these few examples, it is evident that Man has sought and continues to seek to fulfil the drive towards self realisation by attempting to make sense of the world which it perceives around it using the faculty of reason. Discernment has led to an imitation of what is perceived. This has led to practical implementation, but it is only Man’s own limited perceptions, and conflicting desires, which cause it to construct imperfect examples of what it considers to be order. In this respect, its history to date can be characterised as one only of a development of the Ego. Ego may be defined as a purely individualistic impetus to order, which seeks only to fulfil its own immediate concerns and needs: an attempt to impose its own perspective of what constitutes a superior order on existing orders. This is applicable both to individuals and the human race as a whole. It has, most recently, been apparent in terms of a purely technological advancement. It is the disharmony resulting from this perspective of order, and its attempted imposition, which has