{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_47842/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_47842","id":"gutenberg_47842","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47842","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Historical Novels","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Poetry","Mayas -- Poetry"],"text":"Produced by Julia Miller, Denis Pronovost, Linda Cantoni\nand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images\ngenerously made available by The Internet Archive/American\nLibraries.) Music transcribed by Linda Cantoni.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Cover page]\n\n[Illustration: Author\u2019s portrait and signature]\n\n\n\n\n  QUEEN MOO\u2019S TALISMAN\n\n\n\n\n  THE FALL OF THE MAYA EMPIRE\n\n\n\n\n  BY\n  ALICE DIXON LE PLONGEON.\n\n\n  AUTHOR OF\n  \u201cHere and there in Yucatan\u201d\u2014\u201cYucatan, its Ancient\n  Palaces and Modern Cities,\u201d etc.\n\n\n\n\n  New York.\n  PETER ECKLER, PUBLISHER,\n  35 Fulton Street.\n\n\n  SOLE AGENT,\n  Dr. Augustus Le Plongeon, 18 Sidney Place, Brooklyn, N. Y.\n\n  London, England.\u2014Keegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Paternoster\n  House Charing Cross Road, W. C.\n\n\n\n\n  QUEEN MOO\u2019S TALISMAN\n\n\n\n\n  Entered according to act of Congress, June. 1902,\n  by ALICE DIXON LE PLONGEON,\n  in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.\n\n  _All rights reserved._\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                    To Doctor Augustus Le Plongeon,\n             whose works inspired these pages, their author\n            dedicates them: not as a worth offering, but as\n                             A Small Token\n        Of loving endeavor to gratify his oft expressed desire.\n\n                      Brooklyn, N. Y., May, 1902.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n  ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n  _Engraved by_ F. A. RINGLER & CO., _of New York, from photographs_\n  _and drawings by_\n\n  Dr. Augustus Le Plongeon.\n\n PLATE                                                              PAGE\n    I. Author's portrait (Frontispiece).\n   II. Prince Coh in battle\u2014tracing from fresco painting on           35\n         walls of Coh's funeral chamber, in Memorial Hall at\n         Chic[-h]en.\n  III. Mausoleum of High Priest Cay, at Chic\u0127en.                      41\n   IV. Queen M\u00f3o's portrait\u2014Demi-relief on entablature of east        43\n         fa\u00e7ade of Governor's House at Uxmal.\n    V. Portrait of High Priest Cay. From a sculpture on the           47\n         west side of the pyramid called the Dwarf's House\n         at Uxmal. (Discovered on June 1st, 1881, by Dr. Le\n         Plongeon).\n   VI. Prince Coh's portrait. His statue discovered by Dr. Le         53\n         Plongeon at Chic\u0127en in 1875.\n  VII. Prince Coh's Memorial Hall at Chic\u0127en. Restoration by          55\n         Dr. Le Plongeon.\n VIII. Prince Aac's Portrait. From a sculptured wooden lintel         61\n         over the door of the funeral chamber in Memorial Hall\n         at Chic\u0127en.\n\n       APPENDIX\u2014MUSIC.\n\n   IX. Invocation to the Sun.                                         36\n    X. He and She.                                                    36\n   XI. The Dancers' Song.                                             37\n  XII. The Lover's Song.                                              38\n XIII. Funeral Chant.                                                 38\n\n       HEAD PIECES.\n\n    I. Winged Circle\u2014from Ococingo (Guatemala).                       25\n   II. Winged Circle\u2014from Egypt.                                      65\n  III. Queen M\u00f3o's Talisman, found in the urn containing the          77\n         charred heart and Viscera of Prince Coh, in his Mausoleum,\n         at Chic\u0127en in 1875, by Dr. Le Plongeon.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n  PRONUNCIATION AND DEFINITION OF\n  MAYA PROPER NAMES.\n\n  \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n AAC       (Ak, as in _dark_.)                Name of a prince.\n BALAM     (B\u01df-l\u00e4m, _a_ as in _far_.)         God of agriculture.\n CAN       (K\u00e4n, _a_ as in _far_.)            Title of kings.\n CAY       (K\u01df-ee.)                           Name of a high priest.\n CHIC\u0126EN   (Chee-chen, _chee_ as in _cheek_.) Name of a city.\n COH       (K\u014d.)                              Name of a prince consort.\n HOMEN     (H\u014d-men, _o_ as in _no_.)          God of volcanic forces.\n KU        (Koo, _oo_ as in _moon_.)          The Supreme Intelligence.\n MAYA      (M\u01df-y\u00e4, _a_ as in _far_.)          Name of a nation.\n M\u00d3O       (M\u014d, _o_ as in _no_.)              Name of a queen.\n MU        (Moo, _oo_ as in _moon_.)          Name of a country.\n NICT\u00c9     (Nik-tay.)                         Name of a princess.\n YUM CIMIL (Yoom Ke\u00e9mil.)                     God of death.\n ZO\u0186       (Z\u014fdz.)                            Name of a queen.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n  PREFACE.\n\n\nIn justice to the author of \u201cQueen M\u00f3o\u2019s Talisman\u201d, it may be recorded\nthat at the time of its writing, there was no intention of allowing the\nverses to go into print; they were penned only for the one to whom they\nare dedicated.\n\nThe songs introduced have been arranged to the metre of the two or\nthree ancient melodies yet occasionally heard among the natives of\nYucatan. The one to the rain gods is a versification (set to the tune\neven now used in a sun-dance) of an old Maya prayer translated from\nthat language by Dr. Le Plongeon and published in his work \u201cQueen M\u00f3o\nand the Egyptian Sphinx.\u201d The melody to which the Love Song is set is\nnot Maya. In connection with the lines touching upon love and pain it\nmay be remarked that in the Maya language there is but one word to\nexpress both.\n\nIn this poem are represented as nearly as possible, the religious ideas\nof the Mayas, their belief in _KU_, the Supreme Intelligence; in the\nimmortality of the soul, and in successive lives on earth before\nreturning to the great Source whence all emanate; also their rites and\nceremonies as gathered from traditions of the natives of Yucatan, the\nfresco paintings found at Chic\u0127en, and the books of ancient Maya\nauthors.\n\nAs the general reader can hardly be expected to be familiar with the\npeculiar customs and ideas of the natives of Central America, these are\nsufficiently set forth in the Introduction, a careful perusal of which\nwill greatly contribute to an appreciation of the poem.\n\nAttention is also invited to the separate page containing a list of the\nMaya names and their meanings.\n\nThe second part of this narrative poem must be regarded not as a matter\nof belief on the part of the author, but solely as having been\nsuggested by the belief of the natives who worked for Dr. Le Plongeon\nin his explorations among the ruins of Chic\u0127en.\n\n\n\n\n  INTRODUCTION.\n\n\nThe word Maya, though not familiar to modern ears, is a most\ninteresting one to the antiquary. It appears to have originated with\nthe great nation whose people, as well as their language and country,\nbore that name, even thousands of years back; their empire extended\nover the land comprised between the isthmus of Tehuantepec and that of\nDarien; known collectively to-day as Central America.\n\nDr. Le Plongeon has shown that in Yucatan and in Egypt the radical\n_MA_, of the word Maya, meant _earth_ and _place_. This word was used\nby Hindoo sages to indicate _matter_, the _earth_, as it is found in\ntheir cosmogonic diagram. All matter being regarded as illusion, the\nword _maya_, in India, has that meaning. The mother of Buddha was Maya\nDevi (Beautiful Illusion). Maya is _matter_, the feminine energy of\nBrahma. But in the Indian epic, \u201cRamayana\u201d, Maya is spoken of as a\ngreat magician, an architect, a terrible warrior and famous navigator,\nwho took forcible possession of, and settled in, the countries at the\nsouth of the Hindostan peninsula. Plainly, the poet personified as one\nhero the Maya colonists who long ago made their way westward, across\nthe Pacific, and settled there.\n\nOn the shores of the Mediterranean we find nations whose ancestors seem\nto have been intimate with the Mayas, for the names of their country,\nof their cities, and of their divinities can be traced to the Maya\ntongue. Furthermore, their traditions, customs, architecture, mode of\ndress, weapons, and even their alphabetical letters are like those of\nthe Mayas. From records in stone and MSS. we learn something of the\nphilosophy of the Maya sages; and the same ideas are found among\nnations living in Asia and Africa.\n\nNothing could be more significant than the universality of the word\nMaya. In one country it is the name of a god or goddess; in another\nthat of a hero or heroine; elsewhere that of a cast, tribe or country.\nThis word is never used to indicate anything unimportant. In Greece the\ngoddess Maia was daughter of Atlas, mother of Hermes, the good mother\nKub\u00e9le, the Earth, Mother of the gods. We see a vestige of her worship\nin the still popular festival of the Maya or May Queen, fair goddess of\nspring, May, that very month when the Earth, matter, Maya, lives again,\nrefreshed by the nourishing rain which, then particularly, after a\nseason of drought, pours down upon those latitudes where the Maya\nnation had its birth.\n\nThe Maypole dance is yet performed among the natives of Yucatan, the\nland where it probably originated. The dancers are invariably thirteen\nin number, which may be another reminiscence of the land submerged\nbeneath the waves of the Atlantic on the thirteenth day of the Maya\nmonth of Zac.\n\nThis Maypole dance, called in Yucatan \u201cRibbon Dance\u201d is unquestionably\na vestige of sun worship; the ancients, versed in astronomy, thus\ncelebrated the sun\u2019s entrance into Taurus, and the vernal equinox. The\nMaypole, as known in Europe, has been satisfactorily shown to be the\nremains of an ancient institution of Persia, India, and Egypt, where\nMaya civilization was carried in past ages. The May Queen is a\npersonification of the goddess Maya, the feminine forces of nature;\npossibly too of that Maya country whence it came. In Yucatan there is\nno queen connected with the dance; there it is and was sun worship pure\nand simple.\n\nIn Yucatan, as in the British Isles and elsewhere, the pole is planted\nbefore the residences of leading citizens, and the dance is performed\nfor a recompense. In Ireland the dancers wore over their other dress\nwhite shirts, a detail which becomes interesting in view of the fact\nthat the Maya people always dress exclusively in white.\n\nIn Dr. Le Plongeon\u2019s prolonged studies among the remarkable Ruins on\nthe Yucatan peninsula, after finding, by much patient endeavor, a clue\nto the hieroglyphic signs covering the walls of ancient palaces and\ntemples, he clearly saw that the word CAN was inscribed in a variety of\nways on all the buildings, and as he advanced in his studies, he\nlearned that this had been the title of several monarchs who\nconstituted a powerful dynasty. It is a remarkably interesting fact\nthat the same title, spelled Khan, is to-day given to rulers in many of\nthe Asiatic nations; furthermore, the principal emblem on the banners\nof those Khans is the serpent or dragon.\n\nContinued research, including excavations and a close study of every\nobject found, together with several tableaux of mural paintings,\nconvinced Dr. Le Plongeon that he had succeeded in tracing certain\nincidents which occurred in the last family of the CAN dynasty, and\nwhich led to its downfall. Upon studying the famous Troano MS., he\nfound the same story recorded there; and the tragic events resulting\nfrom the acts of one member of that family, Prince Aac, are the theme\nof the present poem.\n\nThe scene is laid at Chic\u0127en, which appears to have been the favorite\ncity of the CANS, judging from certain indications, among these the\nprevalence of the serpent as an ornament in all the buildings. These\nserpents are represented covered with feathers indicating that they\nwere emblems of Maya potentates. On ceremonial occasions royal\npersonages and high officials wore mantles of feathers, whose colors\nvaried according to the rank of the individual; yellow being that of\nthe royal family, red that of the nobility, and green that of the\nlearned men. The word CAN has in the Maya language a great variety of\nmeanings, as Dr. Le Plongeon explains in his works; it is the generic\nname for serpent.\n\nThe personages whom Dr. Le Plongeon succeeded in tracing were\u2014the CAN,\nhis Queen, Zo\u0254; their three sons\u2014Cay, Aac, and Coh; and two\ndaughters\u2014M\u00f3o and Nict\u00e9. There was also an aged man named Cay, the\nHigh Priest, elder brother of the King. This venerable person is\nintroduced in the early part of the poem. When he died, his nephew and\nnamesake, Cay, succeeded to his position and title. Let it be noted\nthat the High Priest was, as among the Egyptians and the Hindoos of\nold, superior in authority to the King himself.\n\nAt the death of King Can, his daughter M\u00f3o became Queen of Chic\u0127en. As\namong the Egyptians, and the Incas in Peru, so among the Mayas, royal\nbrothers and sisters were obliged to marry each other; in Siam and some\nother places the same custom exists to-day. One of M\u00f3o\u2019s brothers had\ntherefore to be Prince consort. Aac aspired to her hand, but Coh, a\nvaliant leader in battle, and favorite with the people, was her own\nchoice. This gave rise to lamentable events which caused the ruin of\nthe dynasty, Aac refusing to be reconciled.\n\nIn a carving on stone, as well as in the Troano MS. and the Codex\nCortesianus, Dr. Le Plongeon has found records of the destruction by\nearthquake, followed by submergence, of a great island in the Atlantic\nocean. The author of the Troano MS. affirms that this land disappeared\nunder the waves 8,060 years before the inditing of that volume. It is\nnot known when the book in question was written, but judging from\nEgyptian records, the cataclysm must have occurred between ten and\neleven thousand years ago. In the Maya books the lost land is called MU.\n\nLately Dr. Le Plongeon has discovered, in translating the inscriptions,\nwritten in Maya language with Egyptian and Maya characters, which adorn\nthe faces of the Pyramid of Xochicalco, situated sixty miles to the\nsouthwest of the city of Mexico, in the State of Morelos, eighteen\nmiles from the city of Cuernavaca, that said pyramid was a\ncommemorative monument raised to perpetuate the memory of the\ndestruction of the land of Mu among coming generations, and that it was\nmade an exact model of the sacred hill in Atlantis which Plato in his\nTim\u0153us describes as having been crowned by a temple dedicated to Cleito\nand Poseidon.\n\nLooking at scenes depicted in mural paintings, one is driven to the\nconclusion that the Mayas were much addicted to the study of occult\nforces; they certainly used magic mirrors and appealed to haruspicy in\ntheir desire to foretell events. As may be seen in Dr. Le Plongeon\u2019s\n\u201cQueen M\u00f3o\u201d, one tableau represents a wiseman examining the cracks\ninduced by heat on the shell of an armadillo and the marks made by the\nvapor; from these signs he endeavors to read the fate of the young\nPrincess M\u00f3o. The soothsayer, of the imperial family of China uses a\nturtle in the same way in a ceremony called _Puu_, for the royal family\nonly, and in state affairs of exceptional importance.\n\nAnother tableau, also reproduced in \u201cQueen M\u00f3o\u201d, represents one man in\nhis feather mantle, mesmerizing another, showing that hypnotism was\nanciently made use of in Yucatan by priests and wisemen.\n\nThere can be no doubt that certain stones were considered efficacious,\nas talismans. Jadeite, particularly that of a beautiful apple-green,\nmottled with grey, was held in high esteem by the Mayas, if they did\nnot regard it as sacred. They called it \u201cBones of the Earth\u201d because it\nwas the hardest stone known to them. Of the many varieties of jadeite,\nfor which no less than a hundred and fifty names have been found,\naccording to Fischer, the apple-green is the most rare.\n\nIn the great square of the old city of Chic\u0127en, Dr. Le Plongeon\ndiscovered, in the thick forest, two very ancient tombs with some of\ntheir decorative sculptures yet in place; those on one, enabled him to\nsee that the tomb had been erected to the memory of Coh by his widow,\nQueen M\u00f3o. In it he found a statue of the Prince consort; also a large\nwhite stone urn, containing what proved, by chemical analysis, to have\nbeen human flesh, charred and preserved in red oxide of mercury. In the\nsame urn, among other relics, was a beautiful ornament of green\njadeite, like those decorating the necks of various personages\nportrayed in the sculptures of certain edifices.\n\nIn connection with the statue it must be observed that the ancient\nMayas held a belief similar to that entertained by the Egyptians,\nregarding the condition of the soul after death, and in the same way\nmade a statue of the deceased, with the idea that this would give the\nindividual a hold upon life. The natives who aided in bringing Coh\u2019s\nstatue to light, out of the mausoleum where it had remained concealed\nfor thousands of years, invariably spoke of it as the \u201cEnchanted\nPrince\u201d, and frequently assured its discoverer that he had succeeded in\nfinding it because he himself had dwelt there in past ages, and was one\nof the great men whose effigies were seen on all sides.\n\nWhen the larger portion of the charred viscera found in the urn was\nburned, to reduce it to ashes, the natives standing by exclaimed\u2014\u201cA\nmajestic shade ascends amid the smoke! It is the form of the enchanted\nPrince, that seems to fade into nothingness.\u201d So impressed were the men\nby what their imagination had evoked, that all ran from the spot in a\nstate of agitation.\n\nOn the day when the statue, weighing three thousand pounds, was taken\nout of the monument, a party of hostile Indians suddenly emerged from\nthe forest. One of their number was aged, and he remarked to his\ncompanions, \u201cThis represents one of our great men of antiquity.\u201d Then\nthe young men paid homage to the statue by bending one knee, in a\nmanner peculiar to those people.\n\nTraditions of their ancestors are not altogether lost among the\nnatives, as some travelers assert. Many still perform rites and\nceremonies in the depths of forests or in unexplored caverns, in the\ndarkness of the night, but keep their secrets to themselves,\nremembering the tortures inflicted on their fathers by the Spanish\npriests to oblige them to forego the religious observances that had\nbeen dear to those of their race for countless generations.\n\nIn connection with the song to the rain-gods it may be said that\nalthough the natives of Yucatan are to-day Catholic in name, they\nreally prefer to render homage to some statue of their forefathers, and\ncling tenaciously to a few of their old divinities. Among these may be\nmentioned Balam (tiger), guardian of the crops, likewise appealed to as\na rain-god. In a subterranean cavern a few miles from Chic\u0127en, there is\nan old image of a man with long beard; this serves as a representation\nof Balam, and to it offerings are made. The antiquity of the carving\ncannot be doubted, similar ones existing on pillars at the entrance of\na very ancient castle at Chic\u0127en. The figure in the cavern is on its\nknees, its hands are raised to a level with its head, palms upturned.\nOn its back is a bag containing what the natives say is a cake made of\ncorn and beans. The statue is now black, owing to the incense and\ncandles with which its devotees frequently smoke it. Previous to the\nplanting of grain, they place before it a basin of cool beverage made\nof corn, also lighted wax candles and sweet-smelling copal, imploring\nthe god to grant an abundant harvest. When the crops ripen, the finest\nears are carried to the grimy divinity by men, women, and children, who\nwithin the cavern dance and pray all day long, some of their quaint\ninstruments serving as accompaniment to the Latin litanies which they\nchant, without having even the vaguest idea of their meaning.\n\nThe sun-dance mentioned in the Preface, is occasionally performed by\nIndians in Yucatan at the time of the vernal equinox. Twenty men take\npart\u2014corresponding to the number of days in the ancient Maya\nmonth\u2014but ten dress as women, whence it may be inferred that in olden\ntimes the dancers were of both sexes. All their faces are covered with\nmasks of deer-skin, and each has on his head the inverted half-shell of\na calabash, with turkey feathers standing up through a hole in the\ncentre. They wear their usual spotless white garments, and sandals.\nThose clad as women are ornamented with large bead necklaces,\nprincipally red, in imitation of old Maya coin, and all the dancers\nhave ear-rings. The hostile Indians[1] still pierce their ears as their\nancestors did; the rank of a chief being indicated by his having a ring\nin the left ear only, or in the right, or in both.\n\nThe Master of the dance wears a stiff circular cap, surrounded by\nupright peacock feathers that sway with every movement, towering above\nall the dancers, and about his shoulders is a string of big sea-shells.\nFrom his neck hangs a metallic representation of the sun, in whose\ncentre is an all-seeing eye within a triangle, from which depends a\nlarge tongue, symbol of power and wisdom.\n\nOne man carries a white flag on which is painted an image of the sun,\nand a man and woman on their knees worshiping it. Three men, apart from\nthe dancers, play a clarionet, a _sacatan_, and a big turtle-shell\nbeaten with deer-horns. The Master marks time with a rattle, and in his\nother hand has a three-thonged whip like the flagellum of Osiris in\nEgypt; throughout the performance he remains standing close to the\nflag-staff.\n\nEach dancer holds in his left hand a fan of turkey feathers whose\nhandle is a claw of that bird; and in his right a small rattle made of\na calabash shell, fancifully painted, containing pebbles and dried\nseeds. These rattles remind us of the sistrums used anciently in the\ntemples of Egypt.\n\nAround the pole on which the flag is furled, the dancers walk three\ntimes, with solemn tread, groping their way as if in darkness. Suddenly\nthe flag is unfurled, the sun appears, all draw themselves up to their\nfull height, raise their eyes and hands, and utter a unanimous shout of\njoy.\n\nNow the dance commences, round and round the pole they go with various\nsteps and motions, not graceful, but energetic and full of meaning. The\ndance is intended to represent, among other things, the course and\nmovement of our planet around the sun. The chief and the dancers sing\nalternately:\n\n                       \u201cTake care how you step!\u201d\n                       \u201cWe step well, O Master!\u201d\n\nThe melody and strange accompaniment are impressive and stirring, the\nrattles being particularly effective, now imitating the scattering of\ngrain, then by a brisk motion of every arm sending forth a sound like a\nsudden rainfall on parched leaves, or a thunder clap in the distance,\nuniting with a shout raised by the dancers at the conclusion of each\nchorus. The fans, kept in motion, are emblematic of refreshing breezes.\n\nThe flag on the pole is undoubtedly a modern addition, simply to\nindicate what the dance originally was; of old, the pole itself\nrepresented the central orb; as the round towers did in Ireland,\nPersia, and India; the conical stones in Phoenicia; the pyramids and\nobelisks in Egypt, etc.\u2014for in America, as in those countries, sun\nworship was the religion of the people.\n\nFinally, the expression \u201cWill Supreme\u201d in the opening line of the poem\nis used in the sense of the Maya word UOL (or _will_) as applied by the\nMayas of ancient times to the First Great Cause. This subject has been\nfully treated elsewhere by Dr. Le Plongeon.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n  These Indians were in May, 1901, subjugated by Mexican troops, under\n  General Bravo, after a prolonged struggle, and their capital of Chan\n  Santa Cruz was taken.\n\n\n\n\n  ARGUMENT.\n\n\n  I.\n\n\nA soul returns to earth to live again in mortal form as daughter of a\npotentate who rules over the Maya Empire. When the Princess reaches\nwomanhood, the High Priest Cay, her father\u2019s brother, describes to her\nthe destruction of the great land whence her people came; consults Fate\nregarding her future; gives advice to the Princess, and presents her\nwith a talismanic stone, warning her that its loss might deprive her of\nher throne.\n\n\n  II.\n\n\nThe Princess is wooed by two of her brothers, who thus become rivals.\nHer preference is for Coh, whom she weds. Cay prophesies to her that in\nanother earthly incarnation she will again be the sister and wife of\nhim she has chosen for consort.\n\nAac, the unsuccessful suitor, is filled with jealous wrath.\n\nThe sovereign Can, and his brother the High Priest Cay, both pass away.\nThe Can\u2019s eldest son, also named Cay, becomes High Priest; M\u00f3o is Queen\nof Chic\u0127en, and her consort the supreme military chief.\n\n\n  III.\n\n\nThe Prince consort is treacherously slain by his brother Aac, who\nadmits his guilt, and is banished from the royal city, his elder\nbrother warning him that he, Aac, will cause the downfall of the Can\ndynasty.\n\n\n  IV.\n\n\nMultitudes assemble to bewail the death of Coh and witness the funeral\nrites. His ashes are laid to rest and, with his charred heart,\ndeposited in a stone urn, the widowed Queen places her talisman, hoping\nto thus link her destiny with that of Coh. She builds a monument over\nhis mortal remains and a statue made to his likeness, and erects a\nmemorial hall, upon whose exterior walls she inscribes an invocation to\nthe _manes_ of her consort.\n\n\n  V.\n\n\nNotwithstanding his crime, Aac ventures to renew his entreaties.\nFailing in his desire, he brings about a war that causes the ruin of\nthe country and people. Finally the Queen is captured and imprisoned by\nAac; but she is rescued by loyal subjects and with them flees to\nforeign lands.\n\n\n  VI.\n\n\nAac, frustrated even in his hour of triumph, becomes a tyrant,\noppresses those under his sway, turns a deaf ear to better promptings,\nand at last is killed in a contest with some of his own subjects, who\nwould restrain him. The famous CAN dynasty is thus brought to its close.\n\n\n  VII.\n\n\nThe Queen and her rescuers find tranquillity in the land of the Nile,\nwhere, long before, Maya colonists had made their homes. Here, M\u00f3o is\nreceived with open arms, and reigns again to the hour of her death.\n\n\n  SEQUEL.\n\n\n  I.\n\n\nAfter many centuries have passed away, in a land far distant from that\nof the Mayas, Death snatches a baby girl from a loving brother. He\nstays upon earth; his lost sister again takes mortal form in another\nfamily; they meet and are united; the prophecy of the High Priest Cay\nbeing thus fulfilled. Together they journey to the land of the Mayas\nwhere, in the tomb of Coh, they find his heart and M\u00f3o\u2019s talisman, in\nthe urn in which she had deposited it many centuries before.\n\n\n  II.\n\n\nAmong the ruins of his palace Aac\u2019s spirit wanders desolate, pleading\nfor the blessing of forgetfulness in rebirth.\n\n\n  III.\n\n\nThe talisman brings visions of the long ago, voices of the Past; Cay,\nthe Wise, still lives, still leads the way to paths of peace.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Head piece-Winged Circle\u2014from Ococingo (Guatemala)]\n\n  QUEEN M\u00d3O\u2019S TALISMAN.\n\n  FALL OF THE MAYA EMPIRE.\n\n\n  I.\n\n  Moved by the Will Supreme to be reborn,\u2014\n  In high estate a soul sought earthly morn;\n  Life stirred within a beauteous Maya queen\n  Of noble deeds, of gracious word and mien.\n\n  Beneath the wing of Can, just potentate\n  O\u2019er Maya-land, of old an empire great,\n  The Princess M\u00f3o knew all the joys of youth,\n  Led on from day to day by Love and Truth.\n  Earth\u2019s fairest blossoms at her feet were flung;\n  About her slender form rare pearls were hung.\n  The zephyr soft was music to her ear;\n  The tempest wild awaked in her no fear.\n  Within her being Past and Future slept,\n  And into guileless mind no phantom crept.\n  Heart sang with Nature\u2019s harmonies its best,\n  Like warbling bird within a downy nest.\n  But soon \u2019mong roseate tints more sombre thought\n  Unto youth\u2019s bubbling spring dark ripples brought.\n\n  An aged man, divine love in his face,\n  Led Princess M\u00f3o within a sacred place\n  And there relating many a tale of old,\n  Of years to come would something too unfold.\n  Faint echos even now reverberate\n  What he then told about the awful fate\n  Of Mu, imperial mistress of the seas,\n  Renowned for power and wealth thro\u2019 centuries.\n  \u201cO\u2019erwhelmed was she in one appalling night\n  When Homen, raging in his fearful might,\n  Threw lofty peaks that lesser mountains crushed,\n  And every life was into silence hushed.\n  The rended mountains sent aloft their fire\n  To meet the lightning\u2019s dart and then expire.\n  From earth and sky incessant thunder broke;\n  The bursting clouds forced back ascending smoke;\n  Soon over all the seething billows swept:\n  Death\u2019s lullaby the waters purled, and crept.\n  Then towering seas that gleamed as with snowcap,\n  Tossed ships on land, while into Ocean\u2019s lap\n  The land convulsed, her haughty mansions heaved.\n  Waves onward dashed, as roaring flames they cleaved.\n  In contest fierce, for mastery thus strove\n  The elements, as luckless Mu they drove,\n  With Death to battle, down in yawning hell;\n  By all her gods forsaken, doomed she fell!\u201d\n\n  \u201cIn blind despair, brother \u2019gainst brother fought;\n  For feeble minds to frenzy soon were brought.\n  Upon their knees men grovelled in the mud;\n  In vain from crashing wall, from flame and flood,\n  A shelter sought, demented they, with fear;\n  And many a pleading eye met maniac leer.\n  Fond mothers left their babes and raving fled;\n  Thus fast and faster unto death all sped.\n  Men ran distracted; climbed the stalwart trees,\n  By earthquake rocked like craft on stormy seas.\n  Cast off, they rushed to find in caverns deep\n  A refuge safe; nor into those might creep;\n  For when they drew anear, with thunderous sound\n  The cavern mouths closed up as heaved the ground.\n  In cities rich and great the house-tops swarmed\n  With frantic men, by fear to brutes transformed.\n  Around, the blackened, angry waters surged\n  Till dwellings rocked, and melting soon were merged,\n  Engulfed in dark abyss with writhing woe,\n  All swiftly spent in one last awful throe!\u201d\n\n  \u201cThe temples of the gods, the halls of state,\n  Quick fell, but failed Lord Homen\u2019s greed to sate.\n  High towers of stone in fragments crumbled down\u2014\n  Of perfect structure those, and wide renown.\n  About man\u2019s shattered works the waters whirled,\n  And he, to Terror\u2019s chariot lashed, was hurled\n  To deep repose or spheres to man unknown,\n  While mangled body lay in ocean prone.\n  Above the horrid sights and awful fear\n  Dark waters rolled, mud-laden many a year.\n  At dawn high crested waves, victorious,\n  Exulted over Mu long glorious!\n  Of what she was, some vestige yet may rest\n  In depth profound \u2019neath Ocean\u2019s heaving breast.\n  Perchance, when ages shall have fled, that land,\n  Stripped bare\u2014again unable to withstand\n  Volcanic force, that will her life-springs start\u2014\n  May rise, and thus reborn again take part\n  On this small globe, mere cosmic spark! yet still\n  A universe whose powers await man\u2019s will.\u201d\n\n  \u201cTo Ku the Mighty, hosts of souls went back\n  Upon that thirteenth night in month of Zac.\n  The dross returned to nursery of Earth\u2014\n  All form to fire and water owes its birth.\n  Our wisemen then by edict made that date\n  Each week, of thirteen days, to terminate.\n  And noble hearts that day, with sacred rite,\n  In urns are hid away from mortal sight;\n  Then during thirteen days we all lament.\n  When Maya nation mourns some dire event,\n  On thirteen altars we our offering make;\n  And thirteen guests at funeral board partake.\n  That famous Mu may ne\u2019er forgotten be,\n  To grief belongs thirteen, by Can\u2019s decree.\u201d\n\n  \u201cFor many years Mu\u2019s day of doom was feared,\n  When those who into magic mirrors peered\n  Saw visions grim; their minds were filled with dread.\n  Not all believed that into Ocean\u2019s bed\n  A land of vast dimensions could be thrust\n  By Homen\u2019s power, yet many felt mistrust.\n  But one there was more heedful than the rest,\n  In science versed and with discernment blest;\n  From Mu he sailed with those who deemed him wise\u2014\n  Our ancestor was he, thou dost surmise.\u201d\n\n  The Princess, deeply touched, in silence heard,\n  With close attention, not to lose a word.\n\n  \u201cTo Oracle that ancestor gave ear\u2014\n  Yet he for self had not a thought of fear\u2014\n  And thus were many saved, of noble race\n  That otherwise had left on earth no trace,\n  With him for guide to this kind shore they came,\n  Renewing here the glory of their name.\n  Then all agreed that Can should Sovereign be.\n  He earnestly desired they might be free\n  From failings he deplored in that great State\n  They\u2019d left, because \u2019twas threatened by dark fate.\n  He warned them oft\u2014\u2018Of luxury and pride\n  Beware!\u2019\u2014for well he knew how, side by side,\n  Such foes can plunge the soul of man in mire.\n  The arrogance of Mu roused Heaven\u2019s ire;\n  At her debauchery shocked, the gods forth fled;\n  Deserted thus, in agony she bled.\n  Simplicity and virtue stern, Can taught;\n  With zeal his subjects held this righteous thought;\n  Rejoiced in peace, and in dominion grew,\n  Till far and near the Mayas throve anew.\n  Can passed away before proud Mu was crushed,\n  But his successor\u2019s voice was yet unhushed.\n  Now, Princess dear, we reach, it seems to me,\n  Portentous years\u2014come then, thy fate we\u2019ll see.\u201d\n\n  Thus spake the Sage, as o\u2019er his raiment white\n  He threw an ample cloak of feathers bright,\n  Of royal yellow these and emerald-green,\n  Beneath the sky resplendent was their sheen\n  When forth he went, the Princess by his side,\n  To sacred place that had no roof to hide\n  The glorious light of day, but walled so high\n  That none could see within while passing by.\n\n  M\u00f3o\u2019s simple mind was here struck with amaze,\n  For where the wiseman fixed his earnest gaze\n  An armadillo thence out crept, nor stayed\n  Till at her feet, as if it thus obeyed\n  A force unseen or was by fetter bound;\n  But none appeared upon that hallowed ground.\n  The aged man this creature gently placed\n  Above a brasier which the Princess faced;\n  As in its depth clear-burning charcoal lay,\n  With pity moved she cried aloud\u2014\u201cNay! nay!\u201d\n  But he\u2014\u201cThink not that I would torture this\n  Or aught that is; could I then hope for bliss?\n  Each being in Creation works its way\n  To perfect rest, all must this law obey.\n  From Ku all emanate, are thence divine;\n  Eternal law ordaineth all combine\n  To aid; each one of us must give and take.\n  This creature, serving us, will progress make,\n  And we are lifted up in reaching down;\n  Thus by endeavor we ourselves may crown.\n  Learn then, this little friend shall nothing feel,\n  Experience shall to thee a truth reveal.\n  Thy slender fingers I but touch, and lo!\n  All feeling goes, no heat therein doth glow.\n  Now move thy hand, \u2019tis free again dost find;\n  This holy law to suffering flesh is kind;\n  Who knoweth this, sensation can enchain,\n  And armadillo shall not suffer pain.\u201d\n\n  \u2019Twas true indeed, for tranquilly it stayed\n  Above the burning coal, quite undismayed;\n  While such the heat endured that soon its shell\n  O\u2019erspread became with misty lines. To spell\n  What weighty meaning auspice might conceal\n  The seer watched, its purport to reveal.\n  What promised he\u2014of what did he then warn\u2014Could\n  she evade the fate foretold that morn?\n  For house of Can he prophesied defeat,\n  Through dark revenge its overthrow complete;\n  By jealousy brought on, and M\u00f3o its source,\n  Tho\u2019 blameless she, herself bereft of force.\n\n  Then back to Cay\u2019s sanctum both returned,\n  M\u00f3o\u2019s heart oppressed by much that she had learned.\n  This mood the Sage rebuked and bade her hear\n  His words: \u201cDear child, thy path lies straight and clear;\n  Whate\u2019er may hap, no thought of wrath outsend;\n  This breedeth ill and nothing doth amend.\n  In spite of many wrongs thou may\u2019st endure,\n  Of fame this oracle doth thee assure.\n  \u2019Twould seem a jest to bid thee do aright,\n  For man, alas! is in a woful plight!\n  He gropes along in quest of Wisdom\u2019s ray\n  And, ever seeking, often goes astray.\n  In noble deeds exert thy human might;\n  Let acts of kindness be thy best delight.\n\n  To give advice for all life\u2019s days who dare?\n  Can one foresee what pitfall may ensnare\n  Thy feet in paths where thou art bound to tread?\n  But come what may, thy soul must nothing dread.\n  Hate\u2019s sting fear not; if thou no hatred give,\n  Its venom reacheth not what shall outlive\n  All trivial griefs and wrongs, thyself divine,\n  Bring what life will, let not thy soul repine.\n  Aid those who seek thy help; there is no joy\n  Surpassing this, unmingled with alloy.\n\n  We know that conflict is a law of life,\n  For matter feeds itself by constant strife;\n  The Will Eternal maketh this decree;\n  We feel results; the _why_ we do not see.\n  The Heart of Heaven, throbbing with thine own,\n  Knows ALL IS WELL. The Infinite alone\n  Embraces all, and ever lures us on\n  To blissful rest where all return anon.\n  In paths of doubt and fear all onward go,\n  But knowing little, waver to and fro.\n  At times disconsolate, men yet aspire,\n  Labor and sigh for bauble they desire;\n  For riches, joys and honors, they contend;\n  But on the funeral pyre these all must end.\n  Let thy wish be to find the highest gift,\n  The Light Divine, \u2019t will ever thee uplift.\n  When grief shall rend thy heart, seek thine own soul;\n  Shut out life\u2019s din, and find that sacred goal.\n\n  A talisman I give thee\u2014jadeite green,\n  \u2019Twill ever lend thee intuition keen.\n  Its wearer may with love herself surround,\n  For with attractive force it doth abound.\n  Would one deceive, and traitor prove to thee,\n  His mind with this thou wilt quite plainly see.\n  Thro\u2019 centuries this talisman can bind\n  Two souls\u2014desiring this, the way thou\u2019lt find.\n  But keep it sacredly for thee alone;\n  If thou lose this a foe will seize thy throne.\u201c\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n[Illustration: Plate II.]\n\n\n\n\n  II.\n\n\n  The daughter of the Can was early wooed\n  By Aac, her brother, who with fervor sued;\n  A brother-prince by law must consort be;\n  In choice of one the future Queen was free.\n  And \u2019twas for Coh alone her own heart yearned;\n  Aac seeing this with jealous anger burned.\n  Those brothers fought as strangers cruel might;\n  Both wounded fell, a rueful, horrid sight!\n\n  Coh far and wide for valiant deeds was known;\n  The Princess M\u00f3o her courage oft had shown;\n  That they should mated be was right and just;\n  Thus by the Can, who in them put full trust,\n  Their nuptials sanctioned were, and many a day,\n  On pleasure bent, the people had their way;\n  For Can regaled them all with lavish grant.\n  At break of day was heard the deep-toned chant:\n\n         Lord of day we are Thine!\n         On our path deign to shine\u2014\n                      Holy Light!\n         Mortals glory in Thy might.\n         When night flees before Thy ray\n         We our voices lift, and pray\u2014\n                      Great Light!\n\n  Scarce rose the sun when crowds on sport intent,\n  From every door in quest of pleasure went;\n  All left their homes the time to pass away,\n  And on the air rang many a joyous lay\n  Of boy and girl who simple frolic sought,\n  And gaily sang with little care or thought.\n\n        Hear life\u2019s jingle, come along!\n        All should mingle with the throng;\n        Clasp my hand, dear, haste with me\u2014\n        Say not nay, for I love thee!\n                    Quit thy nonsense or begone!\n                    I am not thus lightly won.\n        Let\u2019s go onward to the dance,\n        Give me but one tender glance!\n                    Cease thy teasing, I\u2019ll not go!\n                    \u2019Tis decided, thou must know.\n        Hear life\u2019s jingle! join the throng;\n        Youth and pleasure stay not long.\n\n  With shades of eve came other dancers gay,\n  Their smiles enticing young and old away;\n  As in and out about the streets they roamed,\n  They joked and sang while many a goblet foamed:\n\n      On our dress of spotless white\n      We are wreathing garlands bright;\n          And will sing, kiss, sip,\n          With laughing, ruddy, lip,\n      Far away into the night.\n\n      Days of gladness soon take flight,\n      Love\u2019s sweet nectar do not slight\n          Let us sing, kiss, sip,\n          And light-hearted gaily trip,\n      While our vows we once more plight.\n\n  And well they did to quaff the honeyed cup\u2014\n  Why keep the mind with bitter thoughts filled up,\u2014\n  The watchful gods no pity ever take\n  On those who sullen gloom will not forsake;\n  But on bright smiles, reflecting cheerful heart,\n  Frown not, e\u2019en if gay Folly play a part.\n\n  O beauteous night! when lingering footfall strayed,\n  And stars reflected seemed where firefly played,\n  Each leaflet murmured lover\u2019s tenderness;\n  Soul\u2019s ecstasy was pure and fathomless.\n  O mystic Love! to every trivial thing\n  A new and holy charm dost ever bring,\n  With light and joy, to all touched by thy ray\n  Creation glows for him who feels thy sway.\n  Of one we love Perfection is the name,\n  For love is breath of God, all potent flame!\n  Thus \u2019twas a lover sang, with rapture filled,\n  When bird on leafy bough had softly trilled:\n\n         Ah! bird so gay,\n             Take not thy flight!\n         With dulcet lay\n             My heart delight!\n         Stay by me here,\n         For thou art dear\u2014\n         Tho\u2019 one I love is yet more dear!\n\n         Ah! floweret fair,\n             With breath of Morn\n         Upon the air\n             Thy perfume\u2019s borne;\n         Thy life\u2019s too fleet,\n         For thou art sweet\u2014\n         Tho\u2019 one I love is yet more sweet!\n\n         Ah! limpid dew,\n             Fair pearl of Night\u2014\n         That doth anew\n             To petal bright\n         Give charm to lure\u2014\n         Thou art so pure!\n         Tho\u2019 one I love is just as pure.\n\n  In drowsy bud Night breathed. \u201cMay love here bide!\u201d\n  But love and pain are one, so floweret sighed\n  When glistening dew to perfumed petal clung,\n  Imploring\u2014\u201cWake me not! by zephyr swung,\n  Ah! let me linger in this happy state!\n  Ope not the way to pang that may await.\u201d\n\n  But lovely Morn appeared with roseate ray,\n  And soon the god of day chased tears away;\n  Earth throbbed anew, leaves quivered with delight;\n  Flowers laughed, \u201cWe love! we live! thanks be to Night!\u201d\n  In silent, sombre hour of deep repose\n  All form drinks in life\u2019s force that ever flows;\n  And from the tranquil vale of balmy rest\n  Each being leaps\u2014love\u2019s joy they all attest.\n  On globes revolving night must follow day;\n  The universe doth this same law obey.\n\n  Pleasure with pain is mingled, gently kissed\n  By Sorrow, or regret for something missed;\n  As plaintive minor blends with major strain,\n  Fair Light\u2019s attendant shades adorn her train.\n  And M\u00f3o upon her marriage day had mourned,\n  For she by Oracle had been forewarned\n  That Coh from her might in the future time\n  Be torn by dastard treachery and crime.\n  Beyond that time the wiseman too could see\n  That M\u00f3o, bereft and harshly wronged, would flee.\n  More strange than all, the Oracle foretold\u2014\n  \u201cIn bitter woe this thought may thee uphold:\n  Both will return; the sister thou wilt be\n  And wife once more of him awaiting thee.\u201d\n\n  The Prophet Cay taught Can\u2019s eldest child;\n  With mystic lore their time was much beguiled;\n  For pupil would some day the High Priest be,\n  When his preceptor should from earth go free.\n  Surrounded by his volumes old, the Sage\n  In search of truth read over every page.\n  On rare occasions he before the crowd\n  Came forth to speak, and all to his will bowed.\n  Prophetic words were his, sincere and wise;\n  The Can obeyed when Cay deigned advise.\n  Revered by high and low, the honored Sage\n  Could by his will much pain and grief assuage\u2014\n  Nor ever aid withheld, for he loved all\u2014\n  But soon the Lord of life would him recall.\n  More than he did no one in mortal frame\n  Could do, aspiring to the Holy Flame,\n  To keep soul free from earth. His nourishment\u2014\n  Whereon the sun its vital ray had sent\u2014\n  Pure water, simple fruit, white flesh of bird,\n  Was more than he required, he oft averred.\n  In mystic posture he besought Mehen,\n  The Word, that he might wisdom pure attain.\n\n  He could at will ascend from solid ground\n  And float above, while crowds up looked spellbound.\n  Soon after Sovereign Can, without a throe,\n  Cay passed away, bewailed by high and low.\n  Around his flaming pyre, bowed in the dust,\n  All wept for him in whom they\u2019d put their trust.\n\n  Can\u2019s first-born son then filled the Pontiff\u2019s place;\n  Thenceforth he would by every means efface\n  The jealous hatred rankling in Aac\u2019s mind;\n  But he alas! with passion grew more blind;\n  For now that M\u00f3o was Queen, and consort Coh,\n  Her love he ne\u2019er could win, nor him o\u2019erthrow.\n  To M\u00f3o came other joys with baby lips;\n  Pure bliss from soft caressing finger tips.\n\n[Illustration: Plate III.]\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n[Illustration: Plate IV.]\n\n\n\n\n  III.\n\n\n  Beyond her palace wall M\u00f3o heard the chant\n  Of worshiper imploring Heaven to grant\n  Its bounteous rain, fresh life to Mother Earth,\n  The parched land to revive and save from dearth:\n\n      When the Master doth rise\n    To appear in the east\n    The four corners of heaven are released,\n    And my broken accents fall\n    Into the hands of Him who giveth all.\n\n      When clouds from east ascend\n    To the Orderer\u2019s throne\u2014\n    Ah Tzolan, who thirteen cloud-banks rules alone\u2014\n    Where the lords cloud-tearers wait,\n    Biding the will of Ah Tzolan the Great,\n\n      Then the Keeper who sees\n    The gods\u2019 nectar ferment,\n    With these guardians of crops is content;\n    They his holy offerings place\n    Before the Father, pleading for His grace.\n\n      I too my offering make,\n    Of beauteous virgin bird,\n    And myself lacerate, breathing holy word.\n    Thee I love! then heed my cry!\n    My offering place in hands of the Most High.\n\n  Could M\u00f3o in far off days forget that prayer?\n  Ah no! for as it died upon the air\n  A messenger appeared; his words sought vent\u2014\n  Ill tidings had to him their fleetness lent.\n\n  Poor human heart! that blenches, quivers, shrinks,\n  Appalled at fatal stroke that swift unlinks\n  Two lives attuned to one harmonious breath.\n  O loving heart! thy cruel foe is Death.\n  With _this_ compared all other anguish pales;\n  To soothe _this_ pang no human aid avails.\n\n  Affrighted eyes met hers\u2014\u201cSpeak! speak!\u201d she cried.\n  Heart knew and leaped\u2014\u201cThou art alone!\u201d it sighed.\n\n  In broken words the dire event was told\u2014\n  The herald was forbidden to withhold\n  The worst. Then fiercely battled in M\u00f3o\u2019s breast\n  Wild rage and grief, while he obeyed her hest.\n\n  Scarce gone the man, when doubt brought some relief\u2014\n  He must be mad! Allured by this belief\n  She fixed her gaze on Hope\u2019s illusive beam\u2014\n  \u201cUntrue the tale! a frightful, ghastly dream!\n  He dead! Impossible! Sore wounded, yes,\n  As oft; his voice would ease her keen distress.\n  The valiant Coh could never vanquished be,\n  Victorious from every fight came he.\u201d\n  Thus to herself, forbidding other thought,\n  And from her palace rushed, not caring aught\n  For those who would detain her steps, she fled\n  To meet the Prince; her servitors she led.\n\n  He came surrounded by a mighty crowd.\n  \u201cMake way for us!\u201d the Queen\u2019s men cried aloud\u2014\n  \u201cThe Queen is here!\u201d Her breath was all but spent.\n  The bearers stopped; with cries the air was rent.\n  Then bending low, her arms about him flung,\n  She gasped! To his, cold set, her hot lips clung.\n  Beneath an arch of warriors\u2019 shields upraised,\n  She saw, she felt; in death Coh\u2019s eyes were glazed.\n  Ah! woful sight! \u2019twas more than M\u00f3o could bear\u2014\n  She fell, unconscious of the tender care\n  On her bestowed, as homeward borne apace;\n  Far happier had she been in Death\u2019s embrace.\n\n  \u2019Neath holy Ceiba tree, upon the ground,\n  Struck down by one unknown, Coh had been found.\n  Whence came the treacherous foe? From foreign land?\n  Beloved by all was Coh\u2014Whose then the hand?\n  With brother\u2019s blood would Aac himself imbrue?\n  This thought in vain she struggled to subdue.\n  \u201cI rave!\u201d she cried; her mind with doubt was torn;\n  Those brothers royal were from one womb born.\n  \u201cO wretched man! O cruel, monstrous fate!\n  Our Prince was sacrificed to mortal hate!\n  Unarmed was he when came the stealthy foe\n  Behind, to strike unseen the vengeful blow.\n  Thrice stabbed, Coh reeled and fell. Then turned to flee\n  His slayer, who rejoiced alive and free!\u201d\n\n  With passion\u2019s anguish riven, loud she moaned\u2014\n  Could she forgive? Must this crime be condoned?\n  A deed so foul by her own brother base\u2014\n  What act could e\u2019er such deep-set blot efface?\n  For brother-consort by a brother slain\n  Must she herself with bloody vengeance stain?\n\n  To dark despair the Queen bereft gave way,\n  Nor heeded anyone who tried to stay\n  Her grief, until the Pontiff Cay came\u2014\n  Successor to the Sage who\u2019d borne that name.\n  Alone with M\u00f3o he groaned, \u201c\u2019Tis Aac I see!\n  His life is ours to take; but this would be\n\n[Illustration: Plate V.]\n\n  With crime as infamous ourselves to brand\u2014\n  Let not two fratricides accurse the land!\n  Our impulse to avenge must be suppressed;\n  Nor may our soul by anger be possessed.\n  Let Aac himself convict. Do thou, I pray,\n  Request his presence here\u2014he\u2019ll quick obey.\u201d\n\n  Aac\u2019s handsome face wore mask of grief until\n  The High Priest sternly thus expressed his will:\n  \u201cOur dauntless Coh is slain by one unknown;\n  The coward\u2019s blood for this crime should atone.\n  The Maya nation mourns\u2014be thine the task\n  To see the culprit found\u2014\u2019tis all we ask.\u201d\n\n  Aac\u2019s features changed, with ardor he exclaimed\u2014\n  \u201cNot so! no blameless man shall be defamed\n  For what my passion wrought\u2014all mine the guilt!\n  No clemency beg I\u2014do as thou wilt.\u201d\n\n  There spake Aac\u2019s better self; just thought inbred\n  Outbreathed. With pity touched, M\u00f3o\u2019s loathing fled.\n  Nor could a child of Can know aught of fear;\n  Aac boldly stood, the Pontiff\u2019s word to hear.\n\n  \u201cThou shalt live on; hast made thyself accurst!\n  Not thus will we\u2014let fools for vengeance thirst.\n  From Chic\u0127en, go! thy face we would not see.\n  An edict from our hand shall safeguard thee;\n  For, mark this well, the people soon must know\n  Prince Aac alone hath dared to deal the blow.\n\n  I see that war upon us thou wilt bring,\n  And finally, thyself proclaim as king.\n  Afflicted M\u00f3o will feel thy cruel ire;\n  Thus wilt thou weave for thee a fate most dire.\n  Myself, thy elder brother, thou\u2019lt degrade;\n  Cans\u2019 dynasty shall fall, by thee betrayed.\u201d\n\n  Thus forth from royal city Aac was sent,\n  Empowered on native soil where\u2019er he went,\n  To live in princely state, with means endowed,\n  While unto law and Sovereign\u2019s will he bowed.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n  IV.\n\n\n  Sun-Scorched, for tears athirst was Chic\u0127en\u2019s square;\n  The funeral bed \u2019mid wailing crowds rose there.\n  Here many noble structures had a place,\n  With carvings red and gold upon their face.\n  The lofty stronghold in their midst, appeared\n  Like pyramid of human beings reared;\n  From base to summit on each side were seen\n  Brave men who for their chief felt sorrow keen.\n  On temple\u2019s mound crowds flocked to view the square,\n  And hum of million voices filled the air.\n  Each road that led within the city wall\n  Was packed with mourning populace; and all\n  Betrayed the grief they felt. The flowers fair\n  In well-kept beds, the burden seemed to share\n  Of nation\u2019s woe; all drooped their dainty heads,\n  Entreating those sweet tears that heaven sheds.\n\n  With Priestess Nict\u00e9, M\u00f3o was near the pyre,\n  To light the cedar logs with sacred fire.\n  Piled high were these, with odorous plants between;\n  And many lovely garlands too were seen.\n  The priests in flowing robes were stationed round:\n  By solemn rite the rank of each was bound.\n  First those in yellow clad, the sun-god\u2019s sheen;\n  Then soothing wisdom-ray, fair nature\u2019s green;\n  The next in line of blue robes made display,\n  Grief sanctified\u2014the mourners sad array,\n  Beyond stood many others all in white;\n  And last, full armed as ready for the fight,\n  The orators of war, in gowns of red.\u2014\n  Their ardent words to victory oft had led.\n  Long lance they bore, as on the battle field\n  Where glowed their eloquence\u2014nor would one yield,\n  Except to Yum Cimil, but onward pressed\n  And dauntless to the last urged on the rest.\n  These now restrained the crowd that thronged the ground:\n  In that vast square no tearless eye was found.\n\n  M\u00f3o\u2019s sister Nict\u00e9, priestess of the Light,\n  Sustained the hapless Queen thro\u2019 funeral rite.\n  Coh\u2019s heart, concealed within a close shut urn,\n  Was near the corpse, to char while that should burn.\n  That flames might higher leap and quick consume,\n  Fine scented oils, the hot air to perfume,\n  By priestly hand were lavishly out-poured\n  Upon the shroud of him whom all deplored.\n\n  Around the pyre, with measured step and slow,\n  His comrades, arms reversed, must three times go\n  Unto the left, anear the funeral bed,\n  That evil spirits might not reach the dead.\n  Thrice round they went, their object to attain,\n  All chanting as they marched, a solemn strain.\n\n  At signal given by trumpets\u2019 ringing sound,\n  Hushed was the wailing of the crowd around.\n  M\u00f3o grasped the torch that would, from body dead,\n  Release the soul yet linked to funeral bed.\n  Alone she set ablaze the corners four\u2014\n  A sacred right none could dispute, nay more!\u2014\n  Her duty \u2019twas as true and loving wife,\n  To light the wood, speeding the soul to life\n  Or dreamless sleep, the Will Supreme to bide.\n  The multitude, when M\u00f3o the torch applied,\n  Upon their knees, their brows to earth, were bowed\n  Until the priests, \u201cArise! All\u2019s well!\u201d cried loud.\n\n  The priests and mourners now, each one in place,\n  Around the pyre, with sad and measured pace,\n  Unto the right, three times the way must tread;\n  To honor thus the memory of their dead.\n  And when the hero\u2019s form was wrapped in fire,\n  Two mated doves, pure white, loosed near the pyre,\n  Up soared\u2014of liberated soul the sign,\n  From prison freed, no fetter to confine;\n  Yet more, fair symbols of creative force,\n  Of life and death and all that is, the Source.\n\n  The grace divine was fervently implored\n  While hissed the leaping flame and loudly roared.\n  Transparent burned the wood with ruddy glare;\n  Melodious voices rose o\u2019er trumpet blare:\n\n        Thro\u2019 earth-life our footsteps lead,\n          Guide us into peace eternal,\n        Till from all desire we\u2019re freed,\n          And perceive Thy Light Supernal.\n\n  Down sank the pile; priests chanting nearer drew\n  And on expiring flames sweet incense threw.\n\n        Speed thee now to realm of bliss,\n          Cast aside the thought of strife,\n        Tho\u2019 each eye thy face will miss\n          And we mourn thee all our life!\n\n  Intoned the priests and slow their bodies swayed,\n  The dying embers fanned, and singing stayed\n  While these by murm\u2019ring winds were borne away\u2014\n  List where they might, they would life\u2019s law obey.\n\n[Illustration: Plate VI.]\n\n  Afar they floated on the zephyr\u2019s wing:\n  No triumph now would Coh to Mayas bring.\n  Disconsolate, the Queen in anguish cried:\n  \u201cWould that I had with my beloved died!\n  Why tarry here? My soul entreats release!\n  I too will sleep on Death\u2019s soft couch of peace.\u201d\n  From thought so weak, by Nict\u00e9 she was freed\n  And tottering reason saved from foolish deed.\n\n  Then came the date of Mu, the thirteenth day,\n  When hearts of noble men were laid away.\n  Where sacred fire had liberated Coh,\n  The people once again were lost in woe.\n\n  Beneath the earth, shut close in virgin urn,\n  Wherein it safe would bide the soul\u2019s return,\n  The heart of hero slain was put to rest\n  By those who in its love were more than blest.\n  Before the marble lid closed o\u2019er the urn,\n  Upon that heart for which she\u2019d ever yearn\n  The widowed Queen with loving homage laid\n  Her Talisman, at Cay\u2019s order made;\n  By his strong will invested for her sake\n  With qualities she ever might partake.\n\n  Thus from the day this gift became her own,\n  When she\u2019d been warned its loss might her dethrone,\n  The gem had nestled close about her heart.\n  But now, most eager she with this to part;\n  For Cay had affirmed its force could bind\n  Two souls thro\u2019 time, if she the way would find.\n  Coh gone, could M\u00f3o rejoice on sovereign throne?\n  Ah no! far rather than a Queen alone,\n  A fugitive she\u2019d be in boundless space,\n  Assured she would at last behold _his_ face.\n\n  When talisman touched heart, a great calm fell\n  O\u2019er M\u00f3o; to think they would together dwell\n  Once more, they two, within her mind distilled\n  A solace sweet that all her being filled.\n  Should earth recall them, as in time it must,\n  Each would the other seek in perfect trust;\n  From spheres of bliss, if parted, they would strive\n  To meet again and keep love\u2019s pain alive.\n\n  Close by the urn a counterpart of Coh\n  Was set; as long as that endured below,\n  Desiring thus, he could to earth return\n  If e\u2019er his soul for mortal life should yearn.\n  Walled close around, cut from a solid block,\n  That statue could the fleeting ages mock.\n  Secure from tempest and from mortal eyes,\n  This form Coh\u2019s will alone might bid arise.\n  The pose it had been given showed regal state,\n  The boundary lines of Maya Empire great;\n  Where Cans, for justice famed, long ruled; rich land\n  Of men renowned for actions brave and grand.\n\n[Illustration: Plate VII.]\n\n  Now on the spot a monument was reared,\n  On four sides marble steps; and there appeared\n  The emblems royal carved in fine white stone;\n  A leopard crowning all, Coh\u2019s name made known.\n\n  The tomb complete, M\u00f3o likewise built a shrine\n  In honor of the Prince now hailed divine.\n  Of grand proportions stood that edifice;\n  No charm that art could lend would one there miss.\n  Here faithful hearts might manes sometimes greet,\n  And on the altar lay an offering meet.\n  On walls within the artist toiled amain,\n  Portraying there the life of chieftain slain.\n  On outer wall was graved a loving thought\u2014\n  Her Consort\u2019s mem\u2019ry thus the Queen besought:\n  \u201cCay witness beareth\u2014earnestly doth M\u00f3o\n  Hereby invoke her warrior-prince, great Coh!\u201d\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n  V.\n\n\n  And yet again Aac dared his cause to plead,\n  His hand out reached that M\u00f3o might love concede.\n  Mad! mad! he surely was\u2014Can one plant deep\n  The seed of hate, and then hope love to reap?\n\n  Events that Cay had foretold drew near;\n  For self-willed Aac cast o\u2019er the land dark fear.\n  Enraged, a pretext he failed not to seek\n  For war; and soon he caused the soil to reek\n  With blood of men; for him they bravely fought,\n  And led by him dire devastation wrought.\n  When nearly all the land bowed \u2019neath his sway,\n  Once more he tried with her to have his way;\n  By messenger himself would thus demean:\n  \u201cTo M\u00f3o, Aac yields, if she will be his queen.\u201d\n\n  Could mortal strive to rouse with greater zeal\n  Fierce hate and pity kill? Her fall, his weal,\n  He\u2019d thus make one. His queen! O hateful thought!\n  \u2019Twas plain the war that he ungrateful sought,\n  Had prompted been by fixed desire to reign,\n  And with the throne its Queen too he\u2019d obtain.\n  With just wrath filled M\u00f3o scorned the victor\u2019s plea\u2014\n  Lose all she rather would, her palace flee.\n\n  Too soon indeed was this to come about,\n  Cay\u2019s prophecy no longer one could doubt;\n  For Aac without delay acquired new force,\n  Nor cared who fell beneath his reckless course.\n  At last exulted he in M\u00f3o\u2019s defeat,\n  And deeds were done that time could ne\u2019er delete.\n  The noble Pontiff was at once abased\n  By Aac, who deeply thus himself disgraced.\n\n  When M\u00f3o\u2019s defenders lay around her slain,\n  Her freedom she no longer could retain;\n  Then captive she was led to meet her fate.\n  Within Aac\u2019s breast now battled love and hate.\n  Yet dared he not that heinous sin commit,\n  Compel what woman\u2019s heart would not permit.\n  He hoped she soon would plead to be set free,\n  And since all else was lost for her could she\n  Withstand his ever strong desire? Relent\n  She must\u2014to be his consort now consent.\n\n  M\u00f3o looked for death; she would surrender life,\n  Escaping thus all further pain and strife.\n  But jailers were by faithful friends embroiled;\n  At heavy cost Prince Aac\u2019s designs they foiled.\n  Success was theirs, and guarding her with care,\n  They gained the coast, great oceans storms to dare.\n\n  \u201cDear native land, where tender mem\u2019ries cling,\n  No other spot such happy years can bring!\u201d\n  Thus to himself each, silent, said. The past\n  Knew no appeal; the lot of all was cast;\n  The future might, perchance, hold something yet.\n  And when the sun arose, the sails were set,\n  That all might find on distant, foreign shore,\n  New homes, where peace would bless their days once more.\n  Devoted subjects they, renouncing all\n  To rescue captive Queen, whose complete fall\n  From sovereign power forbade a hope of gain;\n  Their only wish to save her further pain.\n  Thus they with her now fled from Aac\u2019s mad hate,\n  Untouched by fear of what might them await.\n\n  Afar the voyagers went from place to place,\n  And stayed at length where men of Maya race\u2014\n  Bold navigators they for centuries back\u2014\n  Had made a home, and nothing there could lack.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n[Illustration: Plate VIII.]\n\n\n\n\n  VI.\n\n\n  Thus Aac remained with power complete at last;\n  But all his triumph was by gloom o\u2019ercast;\n  He writhed in torture when, each night, he thought\n  How great the cost at which his throne was bought.\n  Worse yet, he\u2019d lost the stake for which he played\u2014\n  To fail in winning M\u00f3o, all else outweighed.\n  Upon his soul wrath preyed till spent; and now\n  Dark melancholy hovered o\u2019er his brow.\n  Unsatisfied, unresting, ne\u2019er at ease,\n  Seek where he might, nothing in life could please.\n  Alone he ruled, none dared his word gainsay;\n  But this could not his discontent allay.\n\n  \u2019Twas not remorse that ever brought him pain,\n  But fierce regret that he had failed to gain\n  That chief desire of his unyielding will:\n  This bitter thought his mind would ever fill.\n  Defied and baffled in his hour of might,\n  He hated all who had contrived M\u00f3o\u2019s flight.\n  Each one suspected quickly met dark fate;\n  But cruel deeds could not Aac\u2019s ire abate.\n  By passion swayed like tree in tempest blast,\n  All wish for good and right aside he cast.\n  One satisfaction yet remained to him\u2014\n  The flight of time should not his victory dim;\n  His palace walls should bear upon their face,\n  In carvings deep that time would ne\u2019er erase,\n  His triumph over all who strove in vain\n  To hold him back from what he would attain.\n  And thus \u2019twas writ above his palace door,\n  Above the polished, crimson-painted floor.\n\n  Now came the days when Mayas knew no peace\n  \u2019Neath Aac\u2019s harsh rule, and war that did not cease.\n  With sacred rite they strove to know the will\n  Of Can the Good; response came not, yet still\n  They plead; by holy fire would feign invoke\n  Some aid; and mystic power at last awoke\n  To seer\u2019s gaze the mighty Can of old,\n  Whose visage stern and sad his sorrow told.\n  No hope or promise in that face was read;\n  The country still would be by tyrant bled.\n\n  Again the seers besought, and Coh appeared\u2014\n  Brave prince who had to all himself endeared\u2014\n  Averted was his gaze, his hands upraised,\n  Aggrieved he seemed to be and sore amazed;\n  But not a word expressed; no hope gave he\n  That from the tyrant Aac they might be free.\n\n  There came a final day of vengeance dire,\n  When subjects turned upon their haughty Sire.\n  E\u2019en to this time may yet be seen the place\n  Where he was killed by one of Maya race;\n  Where last he took his stand upon that height\n  Within his palace grounds, there forced to fight\n  In self-defence or yield to prisoner\u2019s lot;\n  Restraint his outraged subjects planned. \u2019T was not\n  Their wish, e\u2019en now, to slay the wilful man\n  Whose being throbbed with blood of honored Can.\n\n  Aac towered there amid his fallen men,\n  Defiant, raging, livid, and \u2019twas then\n  That one named Pacab flung his arms aside,\n  Approached the Prince, and as he neared him cried\u2014\n  \u201cNow yield thyself; we would not do thee wrong;\n  Full well we know all rights to thee belong.\n  Thy safety we desire and not thy life,\n  Tho\u2019 thou hast filled our land with grief and strife.\u201d\n\n  With one fell blow Aac struck the speaker dead,\n  Then shook the dripping axe above his head.\n  But scarce the deed was done when from the crowd\n  An elder man leaped forth and wailed aloud\u2014\n  \u201cMy son! my son! avenged thou now shalt be;\n  Thy life destroyed, no Prince is there for me!\u201d\n\n  This said, he sprang upon the stalwart Aac\n  Like maddened brute and roared\u2014\u201cThy soul is black!\n  Defend thy life; strike swift or breathe thy last!\u201d\n  While yet he spake his blows fell thick and fast;\n  Then Aac, in flaming wrath, stabbed deep his foe;\n  Their blood in mingling stream was quick to flow.\n  \u2019Twas fierce and brief, the Prince was first to fall,\n  But wounded unto death, beyond recall,\n  Was he who thus avenged his country\u2019s woes\n  And brought the reign of Aac to tragic close.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Head piece-Winged Circle\u2014from Egypt]\n\n\n  VII.\n\n\n  Where flows the river Nile, the Queen found rest;\n  There once again her days with peace were blest.\n  Upon that soil where welcome frank was found,\n  Did M\u00f3o a giant Sphinx from out the ground\n  Cause to arise, and thus Coh\u2019s fame renew?\n  Did she immortalize her consort true?\n\n  As child of Can the natives called her Queen;\n  Their ancestors Cans\u2019 subjects all had been.\n  M\u00f3o reigned again, and many a year she dwelt\n  In Chem, the Land of Boats. There too she felt\n  Her call to liberty, and passed away,\n  Rejoiced at last the summons to obey.\n\n  \u201cNow cometh bliss! the flesh doth loose its hold;\n  Death\u2019s tender kiss will leave it still and cold.\n  Upon my weary brow the veil of Night\n  Descends; my soul leaps forth to joyous flight!\n  O touch my heart with thy all-healing balm\n  Oblivion sweet! now lull me in thy calm,\u201d\n  M\u00f3o yearned for this. Then fell upon her ear\n  A voice\u2014\u201cBless\u00e8d are they who know not fear!\n  The Heart of Heaven e\u2019er radiates love\u2019s light,\n  And soul released finds nothing to affright\n  Save visions false of terror, bred by creeds,\n  And deep remorse that gnaws at evil deeds.\u201d\n\n  Soul stirred, awoke and saw! Herself M\u00f3o found.\n  Was this the law, tho\u2019 not to body bound,\n  To still live on? What time in nothingness\n  Had fled? Since she besought unconsciousness\n  Had ages sped? And now appeared her guide,\n  Cay, whom long she mourned when he had died.\n  His clear calm eyes again she searched amazed;\n  Their power thrilled and drew her as she gazed.\n\n  Then murmured she\u2014\u201cIf this be happy dream\n  Let me dream on.\u201d O Light! thy wondrous beam\n  Throughout creation glows, now and for aye,\n  If Will Omnipotent ordaineth day.\n  Thy rays are harmonies, celestial Light!\n  Because thou art, there is no endless night.\n  Earth\u2019s weary children long for deep repose;\n  But from the glorious light all music flows.\n  As night and day forever alternate,\n  In darkest silence life doth germinate.\n\n  No mortal can conceive th\u2019 entrancing sounds\n  That greet the spirit freed from terrene bounds.\n  Could love\u2019s effulgence from supernal spheres\n  But reach the mortal eye bedimmed with tears,\n  A solace sweet as rain on sun-parched leaf\n  Would fall on those bereft and bowed with grief.\n  No more would Death a bitter foe appear;\n  Kind Hope and Faith would banish Doubt and Fear.\n\n  To M\u00f3o awaked another rapture flowed\u2014\n  Coh\u2019s eyes with love unquenched before her\u2019s glowed.\n  O Love! thou art the power of life, the force\n  That lifts the soul; Divinity thy source.\n  Ignoble things thy presence doth redeem,\n  Sweet breath of God! most holy and supreme!\n  Eternal thou, throughout the boundless space;\n  Thy purity no act can e\u2019er abase.\n  Deep passion broods pent up, in matter dark;\n  Death comes, and there upon his gliding bark\n  Reality appears; soul finds its own\u2014\n  Pure Love released, unmasked, stands forth alone.\n\n  By man has time been made the gauge of Earth.\n  What cares the soul in realm of spirit birth\n  How oft around spin globes above, below?\n  Of happiness do beings weary grow?\n  Must they return\u2014again to feel the throes\n  Of matter\u2019s strife\u2014from passionless repose?\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n  SEQUEL.\n\n  AGES LATER.\n\n  I.\n\n\n  While mortals slept and stars lit up its bed,\n  Ere Phoebus smiled the infant\u2019s soul had fled.\n\n  Kissed by the god of day, a blue-eyed boy\n  Sprang from his couch, with eager love and joy.\n  White twinkling feet then ran across the floor\n  To Natalie, as many a morn before.\n  Death\u2019s mystery to him was yet untaught;\n  The lifeless babe no dread to his mind brought;\n  To mother\u2019s arms he bore the drooping form\u2014\n  \u201cPoor baby cold! make pretty sister warm.\u201d\n\n  The lustrums sped. A girl of lightsome heart\n  Was told, \u201cHe comes! with him thou must depart.\u201d\n  To find her in the East, he sailed from West,\n  Responsive to the power of soul\u2019s request.\n  Resistless forces bade her go fulfill\n  The part that she, by her own human will\n  Had planned upon a day, when swayed by love\n  She would her consort find, on earth, above,\n  Wherever might he dwell there too would she:\n  Attachments deep can bind like stern decree.\n\n  To learn the past, to Maya-land both turned,\n  But no faint ray of mem\u2019ry in them burned.\n  Altho\u2019 he murmured in a certain place\u2014\n  \u201cFamiliar \u2019tis, there\u2019s something I would trace.\u201d\n\n  As Maya chief reborn, men of the soil\n  Hailed him, and led by him would patient toil\n  In forest depths, \u2019mid desert mansions old\n  And temples drear\u2014their history to unfold.\n\n  Within a white stone urn in ancient tomb,\n  Charred heart and talisman lay in the gloom.\n  To her he gave the gem,\u2014\u201cNow take thine own,\n  I pray; henceforth it must be thine alone.\u201d\n\n  In dancing flame the mortal dust from urn\n  Was thrown. \u201cA form ascends from what doth burn!\u201d\n  The natives loud exclaimed, \u201cA princely shade\n  That into nothingness doth quickly fade.\u201d\n\n  When evening came, and all from work reposed,\n  They told the white man why the things inclosed\n  Were found by him: \u201cThou art returned once more\n  From long enchanted sleep; wast here before.\u201d\n  To this, both earnestly responded\u2014\u201cNay,\u201d\n  But nothing changed; the men thought their own way.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n  II.\n\n\n  Fantastic thought cut loose from reason cool\n  Are dreams wherein the wisest play the fool.\n  Can dreams be memories? Are some portents?\n  Who knows? His ignorance man still laments.\n\n  The woman dreamed among the Ruins gray,\n  Where moon shines in at night and sun by day\n  On crumbling floors where powdered bones thick lie\n  And glistening serpents glide with gleaming eye.\n\n  Now as she seemed to roam in palace drear,\n  A man in rich and strange attire drew near,\n  Bemoaning thus: \u201cMay every wind and leaf\n  Re-echo now my wail of hopeless grief!\n  In mercy shine upon my endless woe,\n  Great Sun! from whom all life and light outflow.\n\n  Here crouches Aac, alone from age to age\u2014\n  Absorb me now, my wretchedness assuage!\n  Remorse, to thee I said, \u2018Return no more\u2019\u2014\n  Thou shalt not stay to goad me as before!\n  O Light Eternal! bid this mem\u2019ry die\n  While penitent upon the ground I lie.\n  Tho\u2019 long the years of anguish I have spent,\n  The worm gnaws on as if \u2019twould ne\u2019er relent.\u201d\n  He prayed and wept. Response came from above\u2014\n  A woman\u2019s voice replied with pitying love.\n\n  Up started he\u2014\u201cHush! hush! thou knowest not,\n  But I know who thou art. O bitter lot!\n  To jealous frenzy I became a slave\n  And vilely slew my brother true and brave,\n  Thus casting o\u2019er my sister\u2019s life a blight.\n  Still mad with rage and lost to sense of right,\n  I crushed my elder brother in my wrath;\n  Tho\u2019 Pontiff he, I swept him from my path.\u201d\n\n  \u201cMy vicious mood led many where they fell;\n  I lied to them that they might serve me well.\n  No fiery couch was lit for heroes slain;\n  Now I could crawl o\u2019er moldering bones, and fain\n  Would lick their dust\u2014so low my haughty head\u2014\n  I, lord of all! for whom their blood was shed.\n  A tyrant harsh, imbittered I became;\n  Nor could my soul\u2019s rebuke awaken shame.\n\n  O Mother! drop thy tears; accurst for aye\n  Am I! the drouth of this, my land, allay.\n  Send down thy light, Great Sun!\u201d he cried aloud,\n  \u201cLet me forget! with mortal form endowed.\u201d\n\n  To her he turned again:\u2014\u201cForgive! forgive!\n  Earth-born thro\u2019 thee, ah! let me once more live.\n  My crimes and victories, _my soul\u2019s defeat_,\n  My anguish and remorse, wilt thou repeat;\n  For thus alone new life may dawn for me\u2014\n  In solitude I\u2019ve long awaited thee.\u201d\n\n  A falling tear the sighing dreamer woke:\n  No mem\u2019ry of the past could she evoke.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Queen M\u00f3o\u2019s Talisman]\n\n\n  III.\n\n\n  Again the Talisman, now set in gold,\n  Was worn by woman as in days of old.\n  She asked herself, \u201cDoth mystery lurk herein?\n  Can we from this some hidden knowledge win?\n  Perhaps for us there is a task to do,\n  Of bygone times some link to find anew.\n  Cold stone! if dowered thou by magic deep,\n  What then\u2014if silence thou must ever keep?\n  Jadeite grey-green, by ancients called divine,\n  Till Earth grow cold this talisman may shine;\n  As it hath seen long eons in the past,\n  So may it yet man\u2019s memory outlast.\u201d\n\n  \u2019Twas thus the dreamer meditating thought,\n  Till by her strong desire some rays were caught.\n\n  A mystic clue this stone of magic, yea,\n  To scenes of long ago\u2014but find the way.\n  Like other million forms, stone hath a soul,\n  A spark divine of God the Perfect Whole.\n  Then heard the woman toying with the stone:\n  \u201cWith power was this endowed for thee alone.\u201d\n\n  What voice thus spake from mind to mind? No sound\n  The silence broke, wherein her thought was bound.\n\n  \u201c\u2019Tis I, among Earth\u2019s men thy friend of old;\n  In times long past this page I thee foretold;\n  For thou hast been in this, _his_ present life,\n  His sister one brief year; thou art his wife.\n  Attachments deep and strong are ties that bind;\n  We ever take the skein again to wind\n  Ourselves about with bonds that draw us back,\n  And which none other than ourselves can slack.\n  He came to give the ancient Maya race\n  Its right\u2014on history\u2019s page a noble place.\n  He would to light restore what\u2019s hid away,\n  And throw upon the past a clearer ray.\u201d\n\n  \u201cWhen we outgrow desire for mundane things\u2014\n  Which are but means\u2014our spirit finds its wings.\n  When universal love and light are all\n  We crave, no power of earth can us inthrall.\n  Peace comes alone through matter, which is strife;\n  Right effort lifts the soul to purer life.\n\n  To do _his_ best is all man knows of right\u2014\n  Observing this, he finds the spirit\u2019s might.\n  To dread the Great Unknown is bondage vile\n  For man; this fear\u2019s a sin that doth defile\n  The thought and deed of multitudes. In space\n  No depth is found where evil can efface\n  Love\u2019s holy, constant, all-pervading ray;\n  Go where soul will, it need feel no dismay.\n  Peace dwells in Heart of Heaven, eternal Ku;\n  But in the rugged paths that lead thereto\n  With turmoil finite being makes its way\u2014\n  Tho\u2019 none know _why_ or _whither_, all obey.\u201d\n\n  The clasping hand let fall the talisman\n  Placed centuries agone, by child of Can,\n  To serve as link with mortal heart in urn.\n  \u201cSave me from self! I would no more return.\u201d\n  The woman breathed. Then at her side appeared\n  A radiant form:\u2014\u201cAs nothing should be feared\n  In all the vast infinity of Good,\n  The good is here; and if all mortals would\n  Aspire to truth and from ill thought refrain,\n  Each could his share of happiness attain.\n  No more for safety from thyself appeal,\n  Thine higher self doth now itself reveal;\n  Its voice obey, for thus thou wilt be free\n  To seek and find the joys awaiting thee.\n\n  The road thro\u2019 many lives each one must tread,\n  And by experience be onward led.\n  Man\u2019s creed saves not, but effort for the right;\n  Each his own savior is, thro\u2019 valiant fight:\n  Endeavor, not success, makes his account.\n  Condole we may, but not reproach; all mount\n  The heights; tho\u2019 some may tarry long behind;\n  The law of being, each to all doth bind.\u201d\n\n  \u201cOur blundering steps oft bring upon us woe;\n  To fail to strive entails a keener throe.\n  The hounded, luckless inmate of the jail\n  May greater effort make, without avail,\n  Than judge who sits upon the bench to give\n  Decree\u2014if prisoner may or may not live.\n  For one, the right may be an easy way;\n  In vain the other struggles to obey\n  Himself, the spark divine that seeks to guide\n  Thro\u2019 matter\u2019s maze, and with him e\u2019er will \u2019bide\n  Go where he may, in crime, in paths of pain;\n  Till step by step, the summit he shall gain.\u201d\n\n  \u201cThe woes we feel; the failures we deplore;\n  Are only means to reach a fairer shore.\n  When body falls to dust and soul escapes,\n  The thoughts that grieved fade too, like phantom shapes.\n  No judge is there to measure out our doom,\n  Or thrust us into everlasting gloom.\n  Ourselves we may condemn if we have failed\n  To do our _best_. But man has oft bewailed\n  As sin some harmless deed, and cast no blame\n  On other acts that should bear stamp of shame.\u201d\n\n  \u201cThis truth thou may\u2019st enshrine within thy heart:\n  Of Life and Love Eternal we are part;\n  The Will Supreme is One, and lives in all;\n  This God, our holy self, can never fall.\n  WILL is the law; then will the right, for aye!\n  Right will is all that mortal need obey.\u201d\n  Art bound to flesh?\u2014thy spirit thus decreed;\n  This thou shalt realize again when freed.\n  Would\u2019st thou repose? Resume the active way?\n  Thus shall it be: none may thy will gainsay.\n\n  OUR will divine ordains we do OUR best;\n  If we do this, the future must attest\n  That where we passed we made love\u2019s tendrils twine\n  And hope\u2019s soft beam from many an eye to shine.\n  Love may for some mean but a fond caress;\n  But tenderly to serve is to express\n  Devotion, love\u2019s best gift, whence doth ascend\n  A fragrant incense which to earth can lend\n  A sweeter air, a rosier light, and make\n  Grand harmonies on mortal ear to break.\n\n  Eternal Love upholds thee, knows thy need;\n  Thou art in bounteous life, accept its meed;\n  Respond with all the love thou hast. Receive\n  Celestial Light and, if thy heart must grieve,\n  Be strong of soul; nor turn away thine ear\n  From that soul\u2019s song, inspired by vision clear:\n  For ALL is well! Give to despair no heed;\n  Reject it; \u2019tis a dank, pernicious weed.\n\n  The darkest hour, the murkiest place of woe,\n  The direst crime, most agonizing throe,\n  Shall yet give way before the Light Divine\n  Which dwells in all that is, and forth will shine.\n  List to the melodies the soul doth sing,\n  Vibrating chords that unto heart shall bring\n  A joyous symphony whose voices give\n  Rich harmonies that evermore will live.\n\n  Rejoice in life; rejoice yet more when Death,\n  Whose holy kiss absorbs our fleeting breath,\n  Draws nigh, a friend who lets us out to play\n  In broader fields of universal day.\n  Rejoice for all that lives, and all that dies;\n  The piteous cry, the sunny smile, both rise;\n  For these are prayers that will The Good attain,\n  Where all shall blend in one triumphant strain.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n [_see page 38_]                                   _Plate XII._\n\n [Music: THE LOVER\u2019S SONG.\n From \u201cQueen Moo\u2019s Talisman\u201d\n\n Words and Melody by ALICE LE PLONGEON.   Accompaniment by IDA SIMMONS.\n\n   Moderato\n\n 1. Ah! bird so gay Take not thy flight; With dulcet lay\n    My heart delight! Stay by me here, For thou art dear\n    Tho\u2019 one I love Is yet more dear!\n 2. Ah! floweret fair, With breath of Morn Upon the air\n    Thy perfume\u2019s borne; Thy life\u2019s too fleet, For thou art sweet\n    Tho\u2019 one I love Is yet more sweet.\n 3. Ah! limpid dew, Fair pearl of Night That doth a-\n    new To petal bright Give charm to lure Thou art so\n    pure! Tho\u2019 one I love Is just as pure.]\n\n\n [_see page 36_]                                    _Plate IX._\n\n [Music: Invocation to the Sun.\n\n   Moderato.\n     _marcato_\n\n Lord of day we are Thine; On our path deign to shine\n Holy Light! Mortals glory in Thy might; When Night\n flees be-fore Thy ray We our voices lift, and pray_ Great Light.]\n\n _This is also the melody of the \u201cPRAYER TO THE RAIN-GODS.\u201d_\n\n\n [_See page 36_],                                    _Plate X._\n\n [Music: He and She.\n\n   Allegretto.\n\n _HE._ Hear life\u2019s jingle, come along! All should mingle with the\n    throng.\n     Clasp my hand, dear, haste with me Say not nay, for I love thee!\n\n _SHE._ Quit thy non-sense or begone! I am not thus lightly won.\n\n _HE._ Lets go onward to the dance; Give me but one tender glance!\n\n _SHE._ Cease thy teasing, I\u2019ll not go! \u2019Tis decided, thou must know.\n\n _HE._ Hear life\u2019s jingle! join the throng; Youth and pleasure stay not\n    long.]\n\n\n [_see page 37_].                                   _Plate XI._\n\n [Music: The Dancer\u2019s Song.\n\n   Moderato.\n\n On our dress of spotless white We are\n wreathing garlands bright; And will sing, kiss, sip, With\n laughing, ruddy lip, Far away into the night.\n\n Days of gladness soon take flight; Love\u2019s sweet\n nectar do not slight_ Let us sing, kiss, sip, And light-\n hearted gaily trip, While our vows we once more plight.]\n\n\n [_See page 38_].                                 _Plate XIII._\n\n [Music: Funeral Chant.\n\n   Lento.\n\n Thro\u2019 earth-life our footsteps lead; Guide us\n into peace eternal; Till from all desire\n we\u2019re freed, And perceive Thy Light supernal.\n\n Speed thee now to realm of bliss; Cast from\n thee all thought of strife; Tho each eye thy face\n will miss; And we mourn thee all our life!]\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n  Transcriber\u2019s notes\n\n1. Silently corrected typographical errors and inconsistencies;\n   retained non-standard spelling.\n\n2. Plate IV was moved to page 43.\n\n3. Mayan character [accented \u00e4] has been replaced with \u01df.\n\n4. Music can be played from the html file.\n\n5. Italic text in the original is delimited by _underscores_.","title":"Queen Moo's Talisman: The Fall of the Maya Empire","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":13510}