“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 saw a man pursuing the horizon; Round and round they sped. I was disturbed at this; I accosted the man. “It is futile,” I said,

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.

There was a land where lived no vi… A traveller at once demanded: ‘Wh… The people told him: ‘Once the violets of this place sp… ’Until some woman freely gives her…

When the prophet, a complacent fat… Arrived at the mountain-top, He cried: “Woe to my knowledge! I intended to see good white lands And bad black lands,

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

Places among the stars, Soft gardens near the sun, Keep your distant beauty; Shed no beams upon my weak heart. Since she is here

Many red devils ran from my heart And out upon the page, They were so tiny The pen could mash them. And many struggled in the ink.

I explain the silvered passing of… The sweep of each sad lost wave, The dwindling boom of the steel th… The little cry of a man to a man, A shadow falling across the greyer…

If I should cast off this tattere… And go free into the mighty sky; If I should find nothing there But a vast blue, Echoless, ignorant—

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

You say you are holy, And that Because I have not seen you sin. Aye, but there are those Who see you sin, my friend.

There was, before me, Mile upon mile Of snow, ice, burning sand. And yet I could look beyond all t… To a place of infinite beauty;

TELL me why, behind thee, I see always the shadow of another… Is it real Or is this the thrice-damned memor… Plague on him if he be dead

I was in the darkness; I could not see my words Nor the wishes of my heart. Then suddenly there was a great li… “Let me into the darkness again.”