Two or three angels Came near to the earth. They saw a fat church. Little black streams of people Came and went in continually.

A man went before a strange God— The God of many men, sadly wise. And the deity thundered loudly, Fat with rage, and puffing. “Kneel, mortal, and cringe

The chatter of a death-demon from… Blood– blood and torn grass – Had marked the rise of his agony - This lone hunter. The grey-green woods impassive

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

A youth in apparel that glittered Went to walk in a grim forest. There he met an assassin Attired all in garb of old days; He, scowling through the thickets,

I walked in a desert. And I cried, “Ah, God, take me from this place… A voice said, “It is no desert.” I cried, “Well, But—

Once, I knew a fine song, —It is true, believe me— It was all of birds, And I held them in a basket; When I opened the wicket,

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

On the desert A silence from the moon’s deepest… Fire rays fall athwart the robes Of hooded men, squat and dumb. Before them, a woman

Do not weep, maiden, for war is ki… Because your lover threw wild hand… And the affrighted steed ran on al… Do not weep. War is kind.

Your cross? The real cross Is made of pounds, Dollars or francs. Here I bear my palms for the sill…

Black riders came from the sea. There was clang and clang of spear… And clash and clash of hoof and he… Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind:

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…

“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 stood musing in a black world, Not knowing where to direct my fee… And I saw the quick stream of men Pouring ceaselessly, Filled with eager faces,