Fast rode the knight With spurs, hot and reeking, Ever waving an eager sword, “To save my lady!” Fast rode the knight, And leaped from saddle to war. Men of steel flickered and gleamed Like riot of silver lights, And the gold of the knight’s good banner Still waved on a castle wall. . . […]

You tell me this is God? I tell you this is a printed list, A burning candle and an ass.

Forth went the candid man And spoke freely to the wind– When he looked about him he was in a far strange country. Forth went the candid man And spoke freely to the stars– Yellow light tore sight from his eye. “My good fool,” said a learned bystander, “Your operations are mad.” “You are too […]

On the desert A silence from the moon’s deepest valley. Fire rays fall athwart the robes Of hooded men, squat and dumb. Before them, a woman Moves to the blowing of shrill whistles And distant thunder of drums, While mystic things, sinuous, dull with terrible color, Sleepily fondle her body Or move at her will, […]

A newspaper is a collection of half-injustices Which, bawled by boys from mile to mile, Spreads its curious opinion To a million merciful and sneering men, While families cuddle the joys of the fireside When spurred by tale of dire lone agony. A newspaper is a court Where every one is kindly and unfairly tried […]

The wayfarer, Perceiving the pathway to truth, Was struck with astonishment. It was thickly grown with weeds. “Ha,” he said, “I see that none has passed here “In a long time.” Later he saw that each weed Was a singular knife. “Well,” he mumbled at last, “Doubtless there are other roads.”

A slant of sun on dull brown walls, A forgotten sky of bashful blue. Toward God a mighty hymn, A song of collisions and cries, Rumbling wheels, hoof-beats, bells, Welcomes, farewells, love-calls, final moans, Voices of joy, idiocy, warning, despair, The unknown appeals of brutes, The chanting of flowers, The screams of cut trees, The […]

Once a man clambering to the housetops Appealed to the heavens. With a strong voice he called to the deaf spheres; A warrior’s shout he raised to the suns. Lo, at last, there was a dot on the clouds, And–at last and at last– –God–the sky was filled with armies.

There was a man with tongue of wood Who essayed to sing, And in truth it was lamentable. But there was one who heard The clip-clapper of this tongue of wood And knew what the man Wished to sing, And with that the singer was content.

The successful man has thrust himself Through the water of the years, Reeking wet with mistakes,– Bloody mistakes; Slimed with victories over the lesser, A figure thankful on the shore of money. Then, with the bones of fools He buys silken banners Limned with his triumphant face; With the skins of wise men He buys […]

In the night Grey heavy clouds muffled the valleys, And the peaks looked toward God alone. “O Master that movest the wind with a finger, “Humble, idle, futile peaks are we. “Grant that we may run swiftly across the world “To huddle in worship at Thy feet.” In the morning A noise of men at […]

Blood–blood and torn grass– Had marked the rise of his agony– This lone hunter. The grey-green woods impassive Had watched the threshing of his limbs. A canoe with flashing paddle, A girl with soft searching eyes, A call: “John!” . . . . . . . Come, arise, hunter! Can you not hear? The chatter […]

The impact of a dollar upon the heart Smiles warm red light, Sweeping from the hearth rosily upon the white table, With the hanging cool velvet shadows Moving softly upon the door. The impact of a million dollars Is a crash of flunkys, And yawning emblems of Persia Cheeked against oak, France and a sabre, […]

A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!” “However,” replied the universe, “The fact has not created in me “A sense of obligation.”

There was a land where lived no violets. A traveller at once demanded: “Why?” The people told him: “Once the violets of this place spoke thus: “‘Until some woman freely give her lover “‘To another woman “‘We will fight in bloody scuffle.’” Sadly the people added: “There are no violets here.”

When the prophet, a complacent fat man Arrived at the mountain-top, He cried: “Woe to my knowledge! “I intended to see good white lands “And bad black lands, “But the scene is grey.”

There was one I met upon the road Who looked at me with kind eyes. He said: “Show me of your wares.” And I did, Holding forth one, He said: “It is a sin.” Then I held forth another. He said: “It is a sin.” Then I held forth another. He said: “It is a […]

Aye, workman, make me a dream, A dream for my love. Cunningly weave sunlight, Breezes, and flowers. Let it be of the cloth of meadows. And–good workman– And let there be a man walking thereon.

Thou art my love, And thou art the peace of sundown When the blue shadows soothe, And the grasses and the leaves sleep To the song of the little brooks, Woe is me. Thou art my love, And thou art a strorm That breaks black in the sky, And, sweeping headlong, Drenches and cowers each […]

The trees in the garden rained flowers Children ran there joyously. They gathered the flowers Each to himself. Now there were some Who gathered great heaps– Having opportunity and skill– Until, behold, only chance blossoms Remained for the feeble. Then a little spindling tutor Ran importantly to the father, crying: “Pray, come hither! “See this […]