Somewhere above the seven heavens two jewels lie
by whose light Adam and the world are lit;
both formed and not formed, the foetus of nothingness
by the sperm of being - not sensible, nor
do we sense them, do not see them, for
they are neither dark nor luminous -
suckled by nurses of the holy land forever -
no - not jewels, though gemlike in quality:
on one side of creation, on the other side
of all things that exist, both inside and outside Time
they are settles; not in the world
- but they are the world; not in us
but in our bodies the nourishment of Spirit.
They say these two are the TWO WORLDS
both found and not found in all the seven Climes.
One the Holy Spirit, one the essence of Gabriel,
angels flying without wings, without wings
they spread their pinions over this lowly house,
without plumage they soar above their high nests.
With universal Hot and Cold, with the worlds Wet and Dry
like Earth and Wind they keep company with Water and Fire.
They are not - but are called - the Substances
of Eternitys treasure-house and the store of Permanenece.
Both Adam and the world, both Hell and Paradise
present and absent, poison and sugar,
stretching from light to darkness, from
apogee to perigee, from East to West, land to sea,
they are and are not, both hidden and revealed
far from you yet found int he same house.
In that Second World which is heir laboratory
they both destroy and build all things;
food of the five senses, nurses of the four natures,
stewards and cooks of the nine spheres and seven planets.
Ten spies stand around their house, five inside
and five by the gate. Heavens shopkeepers
wait to see what they will sell, and buy -
a ten-headed, six-faced, seven-eyed king
with his four sworn enemies lives in their house.
They are not substances, their substance is accident:
they both are and are not the axis of all accidents.
Illiterate, they read you the letter of the mysteries
and know your deeds without spying on you.
They are lost - and thus become manifest;
headless, bodiless - because they reside
in head and body. In attributes they are not contained
in the world, though hidden in our body and head.
They come from a place which is not a place;
there, they are angles; here, divine messengers.
In attribute they rank above the spiritual world,
neither elements not substances,
like the essence of God Himself.
Though they rule the two worlds they can if you like
conquer your soul as well. They speak
and act, bringing down revelations from on high.
Look at the vegabonds of the sky, an army
for the King of the Holy Throne: even if fools
deride them, they are the movers of the spheres.
Why so many thousand ears and eyes? No,
do not say so - they are blind and deaf.