Should the wide world roll away Leaving black terror Limitless night, Nor God, nor man, nor place to st… Would be to me essential

I stood upon a high place, And saw, below, many devils Running, leaping, and carousing in sin. One looked up, grinning,

There was one I met upon the road Who looked at me with kind eyes. He said, “Show me of your wares.” And this I did, Holding forth one.

Mystic shadow, bending near me, Who art thou? Whence come ye? And—tell me—is it fair Or is the truth bitter as eaten fi…

“What says the sea, little shell? What says the sea? Long has our brother been silent t… Kept his message for the ships, Awkward ships, stupid ships.”

There was crimson clash of war. Lands turned black and bare; Women wept; Babes ran, wondering. There came one who understood not…

God fashioned the ship of the worl… With the infinite skill of an All… Made He the hull and the sails, Held He the rudder Ready for adjustment.

The wayfarer, Perceiving the pathway to truth, Was struck with astonishment. It was thickly grown with weeds. “Ha,” he said,

A spirit sped Through spaces of night; And as he sped, he called, “God! God!” He went through valleys

The Ocean said to me once, ‘Look! Yonder on the shore Is a woman, weeping. I have watched her.

And you love me I love you. You are, then, cold coward. Aye; but, beloved, When I strive to come to you,

I stood upon a highway, And, behold, there came Many strange peddlers. To me each one made gestures, Holding forth little images, sayin…

“Truth,” said a traveller, “Is a rock, a mighty fortress; Often have I been to it, Even to its highest tower, From whence the world looks black.…

I HEARD thee laugh, And in this merriment I defined the measure of my pain; I knew that I was alone, Alone with love,

In a lonely place, I encountered a sage Who sat, all still, Regarding a newspaper. He accosted me: