A new sensation
is not granted to everyone,
 
not to everyone everywhere,
but to us here, a new sensation
 
strikes paralyzing,
strikes dumb,
 
strikes the senses numb,
sets the nerves quivering;
 
I am sure you see
what I mean;
 
it was an old tree
such as we see everywhere,
 
anywhere here—and some barrel staves
and some bricks
 
and an edge of the wall
uncovered and the naked ugliness
 
and then…music? O, what I meant
by music when I said music, was—
 
music sets up ladders,
it makes us invisible,
 
it sets us apart,
it lets us escape;
 
but from the visible
there is no escape;
 
there is no escape from the spear
that pierces the heart.




No 22 - from H.D.’s ‘Tribute to the Angels’