Page:Margaret Fuller Ossoli (Higginson).djvu/203

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BROOK FARM.
185

and symbols — the tradition of the Rosicrucians. The modern theory is, however, that this word did not come from the cross and the rose, as she assumes, but from the cross and the dew (ros); this last substance being then considered as the most powerful solvent of gold, and so used in the effort to discover the philosopher’s stone.

SUB ROSA CRUX.

In times of old, as we are told,
When men more child-like at the feet
Of Jesus sat, than now,
A chivalry was known more bold
Than ours, and yet of stricter vow,
Of worship more complete.

"Knights of the Rosy Cross, they bore
Its weight within the heart, but wore
Without, devotion’s sign in glistening ruby bright;
The gall and vinegar they drank alone,
But to the world at large would only own
The wine of faith, sparkling with rosy light.

They knew the secret of the sacred oil
Which, poured upon the prophet’s head,
Could keep him wise and pure for aye.
Apart from all that might distract or soil,
With this their lamps they fed,
Which burn in their sepulchral shrines unfading night and day,

The pass-word now is lost
To that initiation full and free;
Daily we pay the cost
Of our slow schooling for divine degree.
We know no means to feed an undying lamp;
Our lights go out in every wind or damp.

We wear the cross of ebony and gold,
Upon a dark back-ground a form of light,