I shall never, in the years remaining,Paint you pictures, no, nor carve you statues,110Make you music that should all-express me;So it seems: I stand on my attainment.This of verse alone, one life allows me;Verse and nothing else have I to give you.Other heights in other lives, God willing:115All the gifts from all the heights, your own, Love!
I shall never, in the years remaining,Paint you pictures, no, nor carve you statues,110Make you music that should all-express me;So it seems: I stand on my attainment.This of verse alone, one life allows me;Verse and nothing else have I to give you.Other heights in other lives, God willing:115All the gifts from all the heights, your own, Love!
Yet a semblance of resource avails us—Shade so finely touched, love's sense must seize it.Take these lines, look lovingly and nearly,Lines I write the first time and the last time.120He who works in fresco, steals a hair-brush,Curbs the liberal hand, subservient proudly,Cramps his spirit, crowds its all in little,Makes a strange art of an art familiar,Fills his lady's missal-marge with flowerets.125He who blows through bronze may breathe through silver,Fitly serenade a slumbrous princess.He who writes may write for once as I do.
Yet a semblance of resource avails us—Shade so finely touched, love's sense must seize it.Take these lines, look lovingly and nearly,Lines I write the first time and the last time.120He who works in fresco, steals a hair-brush,Curbs the liberal hand, subservient proudly,Cramps his spirit, crowds its all in little,Makes a strange art of an art familiar,Fills his lady's missal-marge with flowerets.125He who blows through bronze may breathe through silver,Fitly serenade a slumbrous princess.He who writes may write for once as I do.
Love, you saw me gather men and women,Live or dead or fashioned by my fancy,130Enter each and all, and use their service.Speak from every mouth—the speech, a poem.Hardly shall I tell my joys and sorrows,Hopes and fears, belief and disbelieving:I am mine and yours—the rest be all men's,135Karshish, Cleon, Norbert, and the fifty.Let me speak this once in my true person,Not as Lippo, Roland, or Andrea,Though the fruit of speech be just this sentence:Pray you, look on these my men and women,140Take and keep my fifty poems finished;Where my heart lies, let my brain lie also!Poor the speech; be how I speak, for all things.
Love, you saw me gather men and women,Live or dead or fashioned by my fancy,130Enter each and all, and use their service.Speak from every mouth—the speech, a poem.Hardly shall I tell my joys and sorrows,Hopes and fears, belief and disbelieving:I am mine and yours—the rest be all men's,135Karshish, Cleon, Norbert, and the fifty.Let me speak this once in my true person,Not as Lippo, Roland, or Andrea,Though the fruit of speech be just this sentence:Pray you, look on these my men and women,140Take and keep my fifty poems finished;Where my heart lies, let my brain lie also!Poor the speech; be how I speak, for all things.
Not but that you know me! Lo, the moon's self!Here in London, yonder late in Florence,145Still we find her face, the thrice-transfigured.Curving on a sky imbrued with color,Drifted over Fiesole by twilight,Came she, our new crescent of a hair's-breadth.Full she flared it, lamping Samminiato,150Rounder 'twixt the cypresses and rounder,Perfect till the nightingales applauded.Now, a piece of her old self, impoverished,Hard to greet, she traverses the house-roofs,Hurries with unhandsome thrift of silver,155Goes dispiritedly, glad to finish.
Not but that you know me! Lo, the moon's self!Here in London, yonder late in Florence,145Still we find her face, the thrice-transfigured.Curving on a sky imbrued with color,Drifted over Fiesole by twilight,Came she, our new crescent of a hair's-breadth.Full she flared it, lamping Samminiato,150Rounder 'twixt the cypresses and rounder,Perfect till the nightingales applauded.Now, a piece of her old self, impoverished,Hard to greet, she traverses the house-roofs,Hurries with unhandsome thrift of silver,155Goes dispiritedly, glad to finish.
What, there's nothing in the moon noteworthy?Nay: for if that moon could love a mortal,Use, to charm him (so to fit a fancy),All her magic ('tis the old sweet mythos),160She would turn a new side to her mortal,Side unseen of herdsman, huntsman, steersman—Blank to Zoroaster on his terrace,Blind to Galileo on his turret,Dumb to Homer, dumb to Keats—him, even!165Think, the wonder of the moonstruck mortal—When she turns round, comes again in heaven,Opens out anew for worse or better!Proves she like some portent of an icebergSwimming full upon the ship it founders,170Hungry with huge teeth of splintered crystals?Proves she as the paved work of a sapphireSeen by Moses when he climbed the mountain?Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and AbihuClimbed and saw the very God, the Highest,175Stand upon the paved work of a sapphire.Like the bodied heaven in his clearnessShone the stone, the sapphire of that paved work,When they ate and drank and saw God also!
What, there's nothing in the moon noteworthy?Nay: for if that moon could love a mortal,Use, to charm him (so to fit a fancy),All her magic ('tis the old sweet mythos),160She would turn a new side to her mortal,Side unseen of herdsman, huntsman, steersman—Blank to Zoroaster on his terrace,Blind to Galileo on his turret,Dumb to Homer, dumb to Keats—him, even!165Think, the wonder of the moonstruck mortal—When she turns round, comes again in heaven,Opens out anew for worse or better!Proves she like some portent of an icebergSwimming full upon the ship it founders,170Hungry with huge teeth of splintered crystals?Proves she as the paved work of a sapphireSeen by Moses when he climbed the mountain?Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and AbihuClimbed and saw the very God, the Highest,175Stand upon the paved work of a sapphire.Like the bodied heaven in his clearnessShone the stone, the sapphire of that paved work,When they ate and drank and saw God also!
What were seen? None knows, none ever shall know.180Only this is sure—the sight were other,Not the moon's same side, born late in Florence,Dying now impoverished here in London.God be thanked, the meanest of his creaturesBoasts two soul-sides, one to face the world with,185One to show a woman when he loves her!
What were seen? None knows, none ever shall know.180Only this is sure—the sight were other,Not the moon's same side, born late in Florence,Dying now impoverished here in London.God be thanked, the meanest of his creaturesBoasts two soul-sides, one to face the world with,185One to show a woman when he loves her!
This I say of me, but think of you, Love!This to you—yourself my moon of poets!Ah, but that's the world's side, there's the wonder,Thus they see you, praise you, think they know you!190There, in turn I stand with them and praise you—Out of my own self, I dare to phrase it.But the best is when I glide from out them,Cross a step or two of dubious twilight,Come out on the other side, the novel195Silent silver lights and darks undreamed of,Where I hush and bless myself with silence.
This I say of me, but think of you, Love!This to you—yourself my moon of poets!Ah, but that's the world's side, there's the wonder,Thus they see you, praise you, think they know you!190There, in turn I stand with them and praise you—Out of my own self, I dare to phrase it.But the best is when I glide from out them,Cross a step or two of dubious twilight,Come out on the other side, the novel195Silent silver lights and darks undreamed of,Where I hush and bless myself with silence.
Oh, their Rafael of the dear Madonnas,Oh, their Dante of the dread Inferno,Wrote one song—and in my brain I sing it,200Drew one angel—borne, see, on my bosom.
Oh, their Rafael of the dear Madonnas,Oh, their Dante of the dread Inferno,Wrote one song—and in my brain I sing it,200Drew one angel—borne, see, on my bosom.
Would that the structure brave, the manifold music I build,Bidding my organ obey, calling its keys to their work,Claiming each slave of the sound, at a touch, as when Solomon willedArmies of angels that soar, legions of demons that lurk,Man, brute, reptile, fly—alien of end and of aim,5Adverse, each from the other heaven-high, hell-deep removed—Should rush into sight at once as he named the ineffable Name,And pile him a palace straight, to pleasure the princess he loved!Would it might tarry like his, the beautiful building of mine,This which my keys in a crowd pressed and importuned to raise!10Ah, one and all, how they helped, would dispart now and now combine,Zealous to hasten the work, heighten their master his praise!And one would bury his brow with a blind plunge down to hell,Burrow awhile and build broad on the roots of things,Then up again swim into sight, having based me my palace well,15Founded it, fearless of flame, flat on the nether springs.And another would mount and march, like the excellent minion he was,Aye, another and yet another, one crowd but with many a crest,Raising my rampired walls of gold as transparent as glass,Eager to do and die, yield each his place to the rest:20For higher still and higher (as a runner tips with fire,When a great illumination surprises a festal night—Outlining round and round Rome's dome from space to spire)Up, the pinnacled glory reached, and the pride of my soul was in sight.In sight? Not half! for it seemed, it was certain, to match man's birth,25Nature in turn conceived, obeying an impulse as I;And the emulous heaven yearned down, made effort to reach the earth,As the earth had done her best, in my passion, to scale the sky:Novel splendors burst forth, grew familiar and dwelt with mine,Not a point nor peak but found and fixed its wandering star;30Meteor-moons, balls of blaze; and they did not pale nor pine,For earth had attained to heaven, there was no more near nor far.Nay more; for there wanted not who walked in the glare and glow,Presences plain in the place; or, fresh from the Protoplast,Furnished for ages to come, when a kindlier wind should blow,35Lured now to begin and live, in a house to their liking at last;Or else the wonderful Dead who have passed through the body and gone,But were back once more to breathe in an old world worth their new:What never had been, was now; what was, as it shall be anon;And what is—shall I say, matched both? for I was made perfect, too.40
Would that the structure brave, the manifold music I build,Bidding my organ obey, calling its keys to their work,Claiming each slave of the sound, at a touch, as when Solomon willedArmies of angels that soar, legions of demons that lurk,Man, brute, reptile, fly—alien of end and of aim,5Adverse, each from the other heaven-high, hell-deep removed—Should rush into sight at once as he named the ineffable Name,And pile him a palace straight, to pleasure the princess he loved!Would it might tarry like his, the beautiful building of mine,This which my keys in a crowd pressed and importuned to raise!10Ah, one and all, how they helped, would dispart now and now combine,Zealous to hasten the work, heighten their master his praise!And one would bury his brow with a blind plunge down to hell,Burrow awhile and build broad on the roots of things,Then up again swim into sight, having based me my palace well,15Founded it, fearless of flame, flat on the nether springs.
And another would mount and march, like the excellent minion he was,Aye, another and yet another, one crowd but with many a crest,Raising my rampired walls of gold as transparent as glass,Eager to do and die, yield each his place to the rest:20For higher still and higher (as a runner tips with fire,When a great illumination surprises a festal night—Outlining round and round Rome's dome from space to spire)Up, the pinnacled glory reached, and the pride of my soul was in sight.
In sight? Not half! for it seemed, it was certain, to match man's birth,25Nature in turn conceived, obeying an impulse as I;And the emulous heaven yearned down, made effort to reach the earth,As the earth had done her best, in my passion, to scale the sky:Novel splendors burst forth, grew familiar and dwelt with mine,Not a point nor peak but found and fixed its wandering star;30Meteor-moons, balls of blaze; and they did not pale nor pine,For earth had attained to heaven, there was no more near nor far.
Nay more; for there wanted not who walked in the glare and glow,Presences plain in the place; or, fresh from the Protoplast,Furnished for ages to come, when a kindlier wind should blow,35Lured now to begin and live, in a house to their liking at last;Or else the wonderful Dead who have passed through the body and gone,But were back once more to breathe in an old world worth their new:What never had been, was now; what was, as it shall be anon;And what is—shall I say, matched both? for I was made perfect, too.40
All through my keys that gave their sounds to a wish of my soul,All through my soul that praised as its wish flowed visibly forth,All through music and me! For think, had I painted the whole,Why, there it had stood, to see, nor the process so wonder-worth:Had I written the same, made verse—still, effect proceeds from cause,45Ye know why the forms are fair, ye hear how the tale is told;It is all triumphant art, but art in obedience to laws,Painter and poet are proud in the artist-list enrolled:But here is the finger of God, a flash of the will that can,Existent behind all laws, that made them and, lo, they are!50And I know not if, save in this, such gift be allowed to man,That out of three sounds he frame, not a fourth sound, but a star.Consider it well: each tone of our scale in itself is naught;It is everywhere in the world—loud, soft, and all is said:Give it to me to use! I mix it with two in my thought:55And there! Ye have heard and seen: consider and bow the head!Well, it is gone at last, the palace of music I reared;Gone! and the good tears start, the praises that come too slow;For one is assured at first, one scarce can say that he feared,That he even gave it a thought, the gone thing was to go.60Never to be again! But many more of the kindAs good, nay, better perchance: is this your comfort to me?To me, who must be saved because I cling with my mindTo the same, same self, same love, same God: aye, what was, shall be.Therefore to whom turn I but to thee, the ineffable Name?65Builder and maker, thou, of houses not made with hands!What, have fear of change from thee who art ever the same?Doubt that thy power can fill the heart that thy power expands?There shall never be one lost good! What was, shall live as before;The evil is null, is naught, is silence implying sound;70What was good shall be good, with, for evil, so much good more;On the earth the broken arcs; in the heaven, a perfect round.All we have willed or hoped or dreamed of good shall exist;Not its semblance, but itself; no beauty, nor good, nor powerWhose voice has gone forth, but each survives for the melodist75When eternity affirms the conception of an hour.The high that proved too high, the heroic for earth too hard,The passion that left the ground to lose itself in the sky,Are music sent up to God by the lover and the bard;Enough that He heard it once: we shall hear it by-and-by.80And what is our failure here but a triumph's evidenceFor the fullness of the days? Have we withered or agonized?Why else was the pause prolonged but that singing might issue thence?Why rushed the discords in but that harmony should be prized?Sorrow is hard to bear, and doubt is slow to clear,85Each sufferer says his say, his scheme of the weal and woe:But God has a few of us whom He whispers in the ear;The rest may reason and welcome: 'tis we musicians know.Well, it is earth with me; silence resumes her reign:I will be patient and proud, and soberly acquiesce.90Give me the keys. I feel for the common chord again,Sliding by semitones, till I sink to the minor—yes,And I blunt it into a ninth, and I stand on alien ground,Surveying awhile the heights I rolled from into the deep;Which, hark, I have dared and done, for my resting-place is found,95The C Major of this life: so, now I will try to sleep.
All through my keys that gave their sounds to a wish of my soul,All through my soul that praised as its wish flowed visibly forth,All through music and me! For think, had I painted the whole,Why, there it had stood, to see, nor the process so wonder-worth:Had I written the same, made verse—still, effect proceeds from cause,45Ye know why the forms are fair, ye hear how the tale is told;It is all triumphant art, but art in obedience to laws,Painter and poet are proud in the artist-list enrolled:
But here is the finger of God, a flash of the will that can,Existent behind all laws, that made them and, lo, they are!50And I know not if, save in this, such gift be allowed to man,That out of three sounds he frame, not a fourth sound, but a star.Consider it well: each tone of our scale in itself is naught;It is everywhere in the world—loud, soft, and all is said:Give it to me to use! I mix it with two in my thought:55And there! Ye have heard and seen: consider and bow the head!
Well, it is gone at last, the palace of music I reared;Gone! and the good tears start, the praises that come too slow;For one is assured at first, one scarce can say that he feared,That he even gave it a thought, the gone thing was to go.60Never to be again! But many more of the kindAs good, nay, better perchance: is this your comfort to me?To me, who must be saved because I cling with my mindTo the same, same self, same love, same God: aye, what was, shall be.
Therefore to whom turn I but to thee, the ineffable Name?65Builder and maker, thou, of houses not made with hands!What, have fear of change from thee who art ever the same?Doubt that thy power can fill the heart that thy power expands?There shall never be one lost good! What was, shall live as before;The evil is null, is naught, is silence implying sound;70What was good shall be good, with, for evil, so much good more;On the earth the broken arcs; in the heaven, a perfect round.
All we have willed or hoped or dreamed of good shall exist;Not its semblance, but itself; no beauty, nor good, nor powerWhose voice has gone forth, but each survives for the melodist75When eternity affirms the conception of an hour.The high that proved too high, the heroic for earth too hard,The passion that left the ground to lose itself in the sky,Are music sent up to God by the lover and the bard;Enough that He heard it once: we shall hear it by-and-by.80
And what is our failure here but a triumph's evidenceFor the fullness of the days? Have we withered or agonized?Why else was the pause prolonged but that singing might issue thence?Why rushed the discords in but that harmony should be prized?Sorrow is hard to bear, and doubt is slow to clear,85Each sufferer says his say, his scheme of the weal and woe:But God has a few of us whom He whispers in the ear;The rest may reason and welcome: 'tis we musicians know.
Well, it is earth with me; silence resumes her reign:I will be patient and proud, and soberly acquiesce.90Give me the keys. I feel for the common chord again,Sliding by semitones, till I sink to the minor—yes,And I blunt it into a ninth, and I stand on alien ground,Surveying awhile the heights I rolled from into the deep;Which, hark, I have dared and done, for my resting-place is found,95The C Major of this life: so, now I will try to sleep.
Grow old along with me!The best is yet to be,The last of life, for which the first was made:Our times are in His handWho saith, "A whole I planned,5Youth shows but half; trust God: see all nor be afraid!"Not that, amassing flowers,Youth sighed, "Which rose make ours,Which lily leave and then as best recall?"Not that, admiring stars,It yearned, "Nor Jove, nor Mars;10Mine be some figured flame which blends, transcends them all!"Not for such hopes and fearsAnnulling youth's brief years,Do I remonstrate: folly wide the mark!15Rather I prize the doubtLow kinds exist without,Finished and finite clods, untroubled by a spark.Poor vaunt of life indeed,Were man but formed to feed20On joy, to solely seek and find and feast:Such feasting ended, thenAs sure an end to men;Irks care the crop-full bird? Frets doubt the maw-crammed beast?
Grow old along with me!The best is yet to be,The last of life, for which the first was made:Our times are in His handWho saith, "A whole I planned,5Youth shows but half; trust God: see all nor be afraid!"
Not that, amassing flowers,Youth sighed, "Which rose make ours,Which lily leave and then as best recall?"Not that, admiring stars,It yearned, "Nor Jove, nor Mars;10Mine be some figured flame which blends, transcends them all!"
Not for such hopes and fearsAnnulling youth's brief years,Do I remonstrate: folly wide the mark!15Rather I prize the doubtLow kinds exist without,Finished and finite clods, untroubled by a spark.
Poor vaunt of life indeed,Were man but formed to feed20On joy, to solely seek and find and feast:Such feasting ended, thenAs sure an end to men;Irks care the crop-full bird? Frets doubt the maw-crammed beast?
Rejoice we are allied25To That which doth provideAnd not partake, effect and not receive!A spark disturbs our clod;Nearer we hold of GodWho gives, than of His tribes that take, I must believe.30Then, welcome each rebuffThat turns earth's smoothness rough,Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand but go!Be our joys three-parts pain!Strive, and hold cheap the strain;35Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never grudge the throe!For thence—a paradoxWhich comforts while it mocks—Shall life succeed in that it seems to fail:What I aspired to be,40And was not, comforts me;A brute I might have been, but would not sink i' the scale.What is he but a bruteWhose flesh has soul to suit,Whose spirit works lest arms and legs want play?45To man, propose this test—Thy body at its best,How far can that project thy soul on its lone way?Yet gifts should prove their use:I own the Past profuse50Of power each side, perfection every turn:Eyes, ears took in their dole,Brain treasured up the whole;Should not the heart beat once, "How good to live and learn"?Not once beat, "Praise be Thine!55I see the whole design,I, who saw power, see now Love perfect too:Perfect I call Thy plan:Thanks that I was a man!Maker, remake, complete—I trust what Thou shalt do!"60For pleasant is this flesh;Our soul, in its rose-meshPulled ever to the earth, still yearns for rest:Would we some prize might holdTo match those manifold65Possessions of the brute—gain most, as we did best!Let us not always say,"Spite of this flesh todayI strove, made head, gained ground upon the whole!"As the bird wings and sings,70Let us cry, "All good thingsAre ours, nor soul helps flesh more, now, than flesh helps soul!"Therefore I summon ageTo grant youth's heritage,Life's struggle having so far reached its term:75Thence shall I pass, approvedA man, for aye removedFrom the developed brute; a god though in the germ.And I shall thereuponTake rest, ere I be gone80Once more on my adventure brave and new:Fearless and unperplexed,When I wage battle next,What weapons to select, what armor to indue.Youth ended, I shall try85My gain or loss thereby;Leave the fire ashes, what survives is gold:And I shall weigh the same,Give life its praise or blame:Young, all lay in dispute; I shall know, being old.90For note, when evening shuts,A certain moment cutsThe deed off, calls the glory from the gray:A whisper from the westShoots—"Add this to the rest,95Take it and try its worth: here dies another day."So, still within this life,Though lifted o'er its strife,Let me discern, compare, pronounce at last,"This rage was right i' the main,100That acquiescence vain:The Future I may face now I have proved the Past."For more is not reservedTo man, with soul just nervedTo act tomorrow what he learns today:105Here, work enough to watchThe Master work, and catchHints of the proper craft, tricks of the tool's true play.As it was better, youthShould strive, through acts uncouth,110Toward making, than repose on aught found made;So, better, age, exemptFrom strife, should know, than temptFurther. Thou waitedst age; wait death nor be afraid!Enough now, if the Right115And Good and InfiniteBe named here, as thou callest thy hand thine own,With knowledge absolute,Subject to no disputeFrom fools that crowded youth, nor let thee feel alone.120Be there, for once and all,Severed great minds from small,Announced to each his station in the Past!Was I, the world arraigned,Were they, my soul disdained,125Right? Let age speak the truth and give us peace at last!Now, who shall arbitrate?Ten men love what I hate,Shun what I follow, slight what I receive;Ten, who in ears and eyes130Match me: we all surmise,They this thing and I that; whom shall my soul believe?Not on the vulgar massCalled "work," must sentence pass,Things done, that took the eye and had the price;135O'er which, from level stand,The low world laid its hand,Found straightway to its mind, could value in a trice:But all, the world's coarse thumbAnd finger failed to plumb,140So passed in making up the main account;All instincts immature,All purposes unsure,That weighed not as his work, yet swelled the man's amount;Thoughts hardly to be packed145Into a narrow act,Fancies that broke through language and escaped;All I could never be,All, men ignored in me,This, I was worth to God, whose wheel the pitcher shaped.150Aye, note that Potter's wheel,That metaphor! and feelWhy time spins fast, why passive lies our clayThou, to whom fools propound,When the wine makes its round,155"Since life fleets, all is change; the Past gone, seize today!"Fool! All that is, at all,Lasts ever, past recall;Earth changes, but thy soul and God stand sure:What entered into thee,160Thatwas, is, and shall be:Time's wheel runs back or stops; Potter and clay endure.He fixed thee, mid this danceOf plastic circumstance,This Present, thou, forsooth, wouldst fain arrest:165Machinery just meantTo give thy soul its bent,Try thee and turn thee forth, sufficiently impressed.What though the earlier groovesWhich ran the laughing loves170Around thy base, no longer pause and press?What though, about thy rim,Skull-things in order grimGrow out, in graver mood, obey the sterner stress?Look not thou down but up!175To uses of a cup,The festal board, lamp's flash and trumpet's peal,The new wine's foaming flow,The Master's lips aglow!Thou, heaven's consummate cup, what need'st thou with earth's wheel?180But I need, now as then,Thee, God, who moldest men;And since, not even while the whirl was worst,Did I—to the wheel of lifeWith shapes and colors rife,185Bound dizzily—mistake my end, to slake Thy thirst:So, take and use Thy work:Amend what flaws may lurk,What strain o' the stuff, what warpings past the aim!My times be in Thy hand!190Perfect the cup as planned!Let age approve of youth, and death complete the same!
Rejoice we are allied25To That which doth provideAnd not partake, effect and not receive!A spark disturbs our clod;Nearer we hold of GodWho gives, than of His tribes that take, I must believe.30
Then, welcome each rebuffThat turns earth's smoothness rough,Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand but go!Be our joys three-parts pain!Strive, and hold cheap the strain;35Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never grudge the throe!
For thence—a paradoxWhich comforts while it mocks—Shall life succeed in that it seems to fail:What I aspired to be,40And was not, comforts me;A brute I might have been, but would not sink i' the scale.
What is he but a bruteWhose flesh has soul to suit,Whose spirit works lest arms and legs want play?45To man, propose this test—Thy body at its best,How far can that project thy soul on its lone way?
Yet gifts should prove their use:I own the Past profuse50Of power each side, perfection every turn:Eyes, ears took in their dole,Brain treasured up the whole;Should not the heart beat once, "How good to live and learn"?
Not once beat, "Praise be Thine!55I see the whole design,I, who saw power, see now Love perfect too:Perfect I call Thy plan:Thanks that I was a man!Maker, remake, complete—I trust what Thou shalt do!"60
For pleasant is this flesh;Our soul, in its rose-meshPulled ever to the earth, still yearns for rest:Would we some prize might holdTo match those manifold65Possessions of the brute—gain most, as we did best!
Let us not always say,"Spite of this flesh todayI strove, made head, gained ground upon the whole!"As the bird wings and sings,70Let us cry, "All good thingsAre ours, nor soul helps flesh more, now, than flesh helps soul!"
Therefore I summon ageTo grant youth's heritage,Life's struggle having so far reached its term:75Thence shall I pass, approvedA man, for aye removedFrom the developed brute; a god though in the germ.
And I shall thereuponTake rest, ere I be gone80Once more on my adventure brave and new:Fearless and unperplexed,When I wage battle next,What weapons to select, what armor to indue.
Youth ended, I shall try85My gain or loss thereby;Leave the fire ashes, what survives is gold:And I shall weigh the same,Give life its praise or blame:Young, all lay in dispute; I shall know, being old.90
For note, when evening shuts,A certain moment cutsThe deed off, calls the glory from the gray:A whisper from the westShoots—"Add this to the rest,95Take it and try its worth: here dies another day."
So, still within this life,Though lifted o'er its strife,Let me discern, compare, pronounce at last,"This rage was right i' the main,100That acquiescence vain:The Future I may face now I have proved the Past."For more is not reservedTo man, with soul just nervedTo act tomorrow what he learns today:105Here, work enough to watchThe Master work, and catchHints of the proper craft, tricks of the tool's true play.
As it was better, youthShould strive, through acts uncouth,110Toward making, than repose on aught found made;So, better, age, exemptFrom strife, should know, than temptFurther. Thou waitedst age; wait death nor be afraid!
Enough now, if the Right115And Good and InfiniteBe named here, as thou callest thy hand thine own,With knowledge absolute,Subject to no disputeFrom fools that crowded youth, nor let thee feel alone.120
Be there, for once and all,Severed great minds from small,Announced to each his station in the Past!Was I, the world arraigned,Were they, my soul disdained,125Right? Let age speak the truth and give us peace at last!
Now, who shall arbitrate?Ten men love what I hate,Shun what I follow, slight what I receive;Ten, who in ears and eyes130Match me: we all surmise,They this thing and I that; whom shall my soul believe?
Not on the vulgar massCalled "work," must sentence pass,Things done, that took the eye and had the price;135O'er which, from level stand,The low world laid its hand,Found straightway to its mind, could value in a trice:
But all, the world's coarse thumbAnd finger failed to plumb,140So passed in making up the main account;All instincts immature,All purposes unsure,That weighed not as his work, yet swelled the man's amount;
Thoughts hardly to be packed145Into a narrow act,Fancies that broke through language and escaped;All I could never be,All, men ignored in me,This, I was worth to God, whose wheel the pitcher shaped.150
Aye, note that Potter's wheel,That metaphor! and feelWhy time spins fast, why passive lies our clayThou, to whom fools propound,When the wine makes its round,155"Since life fleets, all is change; the Past gone, seize today!"
Fool! All that is, at all,Lasts ever, past recall;Earth changes, but thy soul and God stand sure:What entered into thee,160Thatwas, is, and shall be:Time's wheel runs back or stops; Potter and clay endure.
He fixed thee, mid this danceOf plastic circumstance,This Present, thou, forsooth, wouldst fain arrest:165Machinery just meantTo give thy soul its bent,Try thee and turn thee forth, sufficiently impressed.
What though the earlier groovesWhich ran the laughing loves170Around thy base, no longer pause and press?What though, about thy rim,Skull-things in order grimGrow out, in graver mood, obey the sterner stress?
Look not thou down but up!175To uses of a cup,The festal board, lamp's flash and trumpet's peal,The new wine's foaming flow,The Master's lips aglow!Thou, heaven's consummate cup, what need'st thou with earth's wheel?180
But I need, now as then,Thee, God, who moldest men;And since, not even while the whirl was worst,Did I—to the wheel of lifeWith shapes and colors rife,185Bound dizzily—mistake my end, to slake Thy thirst:
So, take and use Thy work:Amend what flaws may lurk,What strain o' the stuff, what warpings past the aim!My times be in Thy hand!190Perfect the cup as planned!Let age approve of youth, and death complete the same!
['Will sprawl, now that the heat of day is best,Flat on his belly in the pit's much mire,With elbows wide, fists clenched to prop his chin.And, while he kicks both feet in the cool slush,And feels about his spine small eft-things course,5Run in and out each arm, and make him laugh;And while above his head a pompion-plant,Coating the cave-top as a brow its eye,Creeps down to touch and tickle hair and beard,And now a flower drops with a bee inside,10And now a fruit to snap at, catch and crunch—He looks out o'er yon sea which sunbeams crossAnd recross till they weave a spider web(Meshes of fire, some great fish breaks at times)And talks to his own self, howe'er he please,15Touching that other, whom his dam called God.Because to talk about Him, vexes—ha,Could He but know! and time to vex is now,When talk is safer than in wintertime.Moreover Prosper and Miranda sleep20In confidence he drudges at their task,And it is good to cheat the pair, and gibe,Letting the rank tongue blossom into speech.]Setebos, Setebos, and Setebos!'Thinketh, He dwelleth i' the cold o' the moon.25Thinketh He made it, with the sun to match,But not the stars; the stars came otherwise;Only made clouds, winds, meteors, such as that;Also this isle, what lives and grows thereon,And snaky sea which rounds and ends the same.30'Thinketh, it came of being ill at ease:He hated that He cannot change His cold,Nor cure its ache. 'Hath spied an icy fishThat longed to 'scape the rock-stream where she lived,And thaw herself within the lukewarm brine35O' the lazy sea her stream thrusts far amid,A crystal spike 'twixt two warm walls of wave;Only, she ever sickened, found repulseAt the other kind of water, not her life,(Green-dense and dim-delicious, bred o' the sun)40Flounced back from bliss she was not born to breathe,And in her old bounds buried her despair,Hating and loving warmth alike: so He.'Thinketh, He made thereat the sun, this isle,Trees and the fowls here, beast and creeping thing.45Yon otter, sleek-wet, black, lithe as a leech;Yon auk, one fire-eye in a ball of foam,That floats and feeds; a certain badger brownHe hath watched hunt with that slant white-wedge eyeBy moonlight; and the pie with the long tongue50That pricks deep into oakwarts for a worm,And says a plain word when she finds her prize,But will not eat the ants; the ants themselvesThat build a wall of seeds and settled stalksAbout their hole—He made all these and more,55Made all we see, and us, in spite: how else?He could not, Himself, make a second selfTo be His mate; as well have made Himself:He would not make what He mislikes or slights,An eyesore to Him, or not worth His pains:60But did, in envy, listlessness or sport,Make what Himself would fain, in a manner, be—Weaker in most points, stronger in a few,Worthy, and yet mere playthings all the while,Things He admires and mocks too—that is it.65Because; so brave, so better though they be,It nothing skills if He begin to plague.Look now, I melt a gourd-fruit into mash,Add honeycomb and pods, I have perceived,Which bite like finches when they bill and kiss—70Then, when froth rises bladdery, drink up all,Quick, quick, till maggots scamper through my brain;Last, throw me on my back i' the seeded thyme,And wanton, wishing I were born a bird.Put case, unable to be what I wish,75I yet could make a live bird out of clay:Would not I take clay, pinch my CalibanAble to fly?—for, there, see, he hath wings,And great comb like the hoopoe's to admire,And there, a sting to do his foes offense,80There, and I will that he begin to live,Fly to yon rock-top, nip me off the hornsOf grigs high up that make the merry din,Saucy through their veined wings, and mind me not.In which feat, if his leg snapped, brittle clay,85And he lay stupid-like—why, I should laugh;And if he, spying me, should fall to weep,Beseech me to be good, repair his wrong,Bid his poor leg smart less or grow again—Well, as the chance were, this might take or else90Not take my fancy: I might hear his cry,And give the manikin three sound legs for one,Or pluck the other off, leave him like an egg,And lessoned he was mine and merely clay.Were this no pleasure, lying in the thyme,95Drinking the mash, with brain become alive,Making and marring clay at will? So He.'Thinketh, such shows nor right nor wrong in Him,Nor kind, nor cruel: He is strong and Lord.'Am strong myself compared to yonder crabs100That march now from the mountain to the sea;'Let twenty pass, and stone the twenty-first,Loving not, hating not, just choosing so.'Say, the first straggler that boasts purple spotsShall join the file, one pincer twisted off;105'Say, this bruised fellow shall receive a worm,And two worms he whose nippers end in red;As it likes me each time, I do: so He.Well then, 'supposeth He is good i' the main,Placable if His mind and ways were guessed,110But rougher than His handiwork, be sure!Oh, He hath made things worthier than Himself,And envieth that, so helped, such things do moreThan He who made them! What consoles but this?That they, unless through Him, do naught at all,115And must submit: what other use in things?'Hath cut a pipe of pithless elder-jointThat, blown through, gives exact the scream o' the jayWhen from her wing you twitch the feathers blue:Sound this, and little birds that hate the jay120Flock within stone's throw, glad their foe is hurt:Put case such pipe could prattle and boast forsooth,"I catch the birds, I am the crafty thing,I make the cry my maker cannot makeWith his great round mouth; he must blow through mine!"125Would not I smash it with my foot? So He.But wherefore rough, why cold and ill at ease?Aha, that is a question! Ask, for that,What knows—the something over SetebosThat made Him, or He, may be, found and fought,130Worsted, drove off and did to nothing, perchance.There may be something quiet o'er His head,Out of His reach, that feels nor joy nor grief,Since both derive from weakness in some way.I joy because the quails come; would not joy135Could I bring quails here when I have a mind:This Quiet, all it hath a mind to, doth.'Esteemeth stars the outposts of its couch,But never spends much thought nor care that way.It may look up, work up—the worse for those140It works on! 'Careth but for SetebosThe many-handed as a cuttlefish,Who, making Himself feared through what He does,Looks up, first, and perceives he cannot soarTo what is quiet and hath happy life;145Next looks down here, and out of very spiteMakes this a bauble-world to ape yon real,These good things to match those as hips do grapes.'Tis solace making baubles, aye, and sport.Himself peeped late, eyed Prosper at his books150Careless and lofty, lord now of the isle:Vexed, 'stitched a book of broad leaves, arrow-shaped,Wrote thereon, he knows what, prodigious words;Has peeled a wand and called it by a name;Weareth at whiles for an enchanter's robe155The eyed skin of a supple oncelot;And hath an ounce sleeker than youngling mole,A four-legged serpent he makes cower and couch,Now snarl, now hold its breath and mind his eye,And saith she is Miranda and my wife:160'Keeps for his Ariel, a tall pouch-bill craneHe bids go wade for fish and straight disgorge;Also a sea-beast, lumpish, which he snared,Blinded the eyes of, and brought somewhat tame,And split its toe-webs, and now pens the drudge165In a hole o' the rock and calls him Caliban;A bitter heart that bides its time and bites.'Plays thus at being Prosper in a way,Taketh his mirth with make-believes: so He.His dam held that the Quiet made all things170Which Setebos vexed only: 'holds not so.Who made them weak, meant weakness He might vex.Had He meant other, while His hand was in,Why not make horny eyes no thorn could prick,Or plate my scalp with bone against the snow,175Or overscale my flesh 'neath joint and joint,Like an orc's armor? Aye—so spoil His sport!He is the One now: only He doth all.'Saith, He may like, perchance, what profits Him.Aye, himself loves what does him good; but why?180'Gets good no otherwise. This blinded beastLoves whoso places fleshmeat on his nose,But, had he eyes, would want no help, but hateOr love, just as it liked him: He hath eyes.Also it pleaseth Setebos to work,185Use all His hands, and exercise much craft,By no means for the love of what is worked.'Tasteth, himself, no finer good i' the worldWhen all goes right, in this safe summertime,And he wants little, hungers, aches not much,190Than trying what to do with wit and strength.'Falls to make something: 'piled yon pile of turfs,And squared and stuck there squares of soft white chalk,And, with a fish-tooth, scratched a moon on each,And set up endwise certain spikes of tree,195And crowned the whole with a sloth's skull a-top,Found dead i' the woods, too hard for one to kill.No use at all i' the work, for work's sole sake;'Shall some day knock it down again: so He.'Saith He is terrible: watch His feats in proof!200One hurricane will spoil six good months' hope.He hath a spite against me, that I know,Just as He favors Prosper, who knows why?So it is, all the same, as well I find.'Wove wattles half the winter, fenced them firm205With stone and stake to stop she-tortoisesCrawling to lay their eggs here: well, one wave,Feeling the foot of Him upon its neck,Gaped as a snake does, lolled out its large tongue,And licked the whole labor flat: so much for spite.210'Saw a ball flame down late (yonder it lies)Where, half an hour before, I slept i' the shade:Often they scatter sparkles: there is force!'Dug up a newt He may have envied onceAnd turned to stone, shut up inside a stone.215Please Him and hinder this?—What Prosper does?Aha, if He would tell me how! Not He!There is the sport: discover how or die!All need not die, for of the things o' the isleSome flee afar, some dive, some run up trees;220Those at His mercy—why, they please Him mostWhen ... when ... well, never try the same way twice!Repeat what act has pleased, He may grow wroth.You must not know, His ways, and play Him off,Sure of the issue. 'Doth the like himself:225'Spareth a squirrel that it nothing fearsBut steals the nut from underneath my thumb,And when I threat, bites stoutly in defense:'Spareth an urchin that contrariwise,Curls up into a ball, pretending death230For fright at my approach: the two ways please.But what would move my choler more than this,That either creature counted on its lifeTomorrow and next day and all days to come,Saying, forsooth, in the inmost of its heart,235"Because he did so yesterday with me,And otherwise with such another brute,So must he do henceforth and always."—Aye?Would teach the reasoning couple what "must" means!'Doth as he likes, or wherefore Lord? So He.240'Conceiveth all things will continue thus,And we shall have to live in fear of HimSo long as He lives, keeps His strength: no change,If He have done His best, make no new worldTo please Him more, so leave off watching this—245If He surprise not even the Quiet's selfSome strange day—or, suppose, grow into itAs grubs grow butterflies: else, here are we,And there is He, and nowhere help at all.'Believeth with the life, the pain shall stop.250His dam held different, that after deathHe both plagued enemies and feasted friends:Idly! He doth His worst in this our life,Giving just respite lest we die through pain,Saving last pain for worst—with which, an end.255Meanwhile, the best way to escape His ireIs not to seem too happy. 'Sees, himself,Yonder two flies, with purple films and pink,Bask on the pompion-bell above: kills both.'Sees two black painful beetles roll their ball260On head and tail as if to save their lives:Moves them the stick away they strive to clear.Even so, 'would have Him misconceive, supposeThis Caliban strives hard and ails no less,And always, above all else, envies Him;265Wherefore he mainly dances on dark nights,Moans in the sun, gets under holes to laugh,And never speaks his mind save housed as now:Outside, 'groans, curses. If He caught me here,O'erheard this speech, and asked, "What chucklest at?"270'Would, to appease Him, cut a finger off,Or of my three kid yearlings burn the best,Or let the toothsome apples rot on tree,Or push my tame beast for the orc to taste:While myself lit a fire, and made a song275And sung it, "What I hate, be consecrateTo celebrate Thee and Thy state, no mateFor Thee; what see for envy in poor me?"Hoping the while, since evils sometimes mend,Warts rub away, and sores are cured with slime,280That some strange day, will either the Quiet catchAnd conquer Setebos, or likelier HeDecrepit may doze, doze, as good as die.[What, what? A curtain o'er the world at once!Crickets stop hissing; not a bird—or, yes,285There scuds His raven that has told Him all!It was fool's play, this prattling! Ha! The windShoulders the pillared dust, death's house o' the move,And fast invading fires begin! White blaze—A tree's head snaps—and there, there, there, there, there,290His thunder follows! Fool to gibe at Him!Lo! 'Lieth flat and loveth Setebos!'Maketh his teeth meet through his upper lip,Will let those quails fly, will not eat this monthOne little mess of whelks, so he may 'scape!]295
['Will sprawl, now that the heat of day is best,Flat on his belly in the pit's much mire,With elbows wide, fists clenched to prop his chin.And, while he kicks both feet in the cool slush,And feels about his spine small eft-things course,5Run in and out each arm, and make him laugh;And while above his head a pompion-plant,Coating the cave-top as a brow its eye,Creeps down to touch and tickle hair and beard,And now a flower drops with a bee inside,10And now a fruit to snap at, catch and crunch—He looks out o'er yon sea which sunbeams crossAnd recross till they weave a spider web(Meshes of fire, some great fish breaks at times)And talks to his own self, howe'er he please,15Touching that other, whom his dam called God.Because to talk about Him, vexes—ha,Could He but know! and time to vex is now,When talk is safer than in wintertime.Moreover Prosper and Miranda sleep20In confidence he drudges at their task,And it is good to cheat the pair, and gibe,Letting the rank tongue blossom into speech.]
Setebos, Setebos, and Setebos!'Thinketh, He dwelleth i' the cold o' the moon.25
Thinketh He made it, with the sun to match,But not the stars; the stars came otherwise;Only made clouds, winds, meteors, such as that;Also this isle, what lives and grows thereon,And snaky sea which rounds and ends the same.30
'Thinketh, it came of being ill at ease:He hated that He cannot change His cold,Nor cure its ache. 'Hath spied an icy fishThat longed to 'scape the rock-stream where she lived,And thaw herself within the lukewarm brine35O' the lazy sea her stream thrusts far amid,A crystal spike 'twixt two warm walls of wave;Only, she ever sickened, found repulseAt the other kind of water, not her life,(Green-dense and dim-delicious, bred o' the sun)40Flounced back from bliss she was not born to breathe,And in her old bounds buried her despair,Hating and loving warmth alike: so He.
'Thinketh, He made thereat the sun, this isle,Trees and the fowls here, beast and creeping thing.45Yon otter, sleek-wet, black, lithe as a leech;Yon auk, one fire-eye in a ball of foam,That floats and feeds; a certain badger brownHe hath watched hunt with that slant white-wedge eyeBy moonlight; and the pie with the long tongue50That pricks deep into oakwarts for a worm,And says a plain word when she finds her prize,But will not eat the ants; the ants themselvesThat build a wall of seeds and settled stalksAbout their hole—He made all these and more,55Made all we see, and us, in spite: how else?He could not, Himself, make a second selfTo be His mate; as well have made Himself:He would not make what He mislikes or slights,An eyesore to Him, or not worth His pains:60But did, in envy, listlessness or sport,Make what Himself would fain, in a manner, be—Weaker in most points, stronger in a few,Worthy, and yet mere playthings all the while,Things He admires and mocks too—that is it.65Because; so brave, so better though they be,It nothing skills if He begin to plague.Look now, I melt a gourd-fruit into mash,Add honeycomb and pods, I have perceived,Which bite like finches when they bill and kiss—70Then, when froth rises bladdery, drink up all,Quick, quick, till maggots scamper through my brain;Last, throw me on my back i' the seeded thyme,And wanton, wishing I were born a bird.Put case, unable to be what I wish,75I yet could make a live bird out of clay:Would not I take clay, pinch my CalibanAble to fly?—for, there, see, he hath wings,And great comb like the hoopoe's to admire,And there, a sting to do his foes offense,80There, and I will that he begin to live,Fly to yon rock-top, nip me off the hornsOf grigs high up that make the merry din,Saucy through their veined wings, and mind me not.In which feat, if his leg snapped, brittle clay,85And he lay stupid-like—why, I should laugh;And if he, spying me, should fall to weep,Beseech me to be good, repair his wrong,Bid his poor leg smart less or grow again—Well, as the chance were, this might take or else90Not take my fancy: I might hear his cry,And give the manikin three sound legs for one,Or pluck the other off, leave him like an egg,And lessoned he was mine and merely clay.Were this no pleasure, lying in the thyme,95Drinking the mash, with brain become alive,Making and marring clay at will? So He.
'Thinketh, such shows nor right nor wrong in Him,Nor kind, nor cruel: He is strong and Lord.'Am strong myself compared to yonder crabs100That march now from the mountain to the sea;'Let twenty pass, and stone the twenty-first,Loving not, hating not, just choosing so.'Say, the first straggler that boasts purple spotsShall join the file, one pincer twisted off;105'Say, this bruised fellow shall receive a worm,And two worms he whose nippers end in red;As it likes me each time, I do: so He.
Well then, 'supposeth He is good i' the main,Placable if His mind and ways were guessed,110But rougher than His handiwork, be sure!Oh, He hath made things worthier than Himself,And envieth that, so helped, such things do moreThan He who made them! What consoles but this?That they, unless through Him, do naught at all,115And must submit: what other use in things?'Hath cut a pipe of pithless elder-jointThat, blown through, gives exact the scream o' the jayWhen from her wing you twitch the feathers blue:Sound this, and little birds that hate the jay120Flock within stone's throw, glad their foe is hurt:Put case such pipe could prattle and boast forsooth,"I catch the birds, I am the crafty thing,I make the cry my maker cannot makeWith his great round mouth; he must blow through mine!"125Would not I smash it with my foot? So He.
But wherefore rough, why cold and ill at ease?Aha, that is a question! Ask, for that,What knows—the something over SetebosThat made Him, or He, may be, found and fought,130Worsted, drove off and did to nothing, perchance.There may be something quiet o'er His head,Out of His reach, that feels nor joy nor grief,Since both derive from weakness in some way.I joy because the quails come; would not joy135Could I bring quails here when I have a mind:This Quiet, all it hath a mind to, doth.'Esteemeth stars the outposts of its couch,But never spends much thought nor care that way.It may look up, work up—the worse for those140It works on! 'Careth but for SetebosThe many-handed as a cuttlefish,Who, making Himself feared through what He does,Looks up, first, and perceives he cannot soarTo what is quiet and hath happy life;145Next looks down here, and out of very spiteMakes this a bauble-world to ape yon real,These good things to match those as hips do grapes.'Tis solace making baubles, aye, and sport.Himself peeped late, eyed Prosper at his books150Careless and lofty, lord now of the isle:Vexed, 'stitched a book of broad leaves, arrow-shaped,Wrote thereon, he knows what, prodigious words;Has peeled a wand and called it by a name;Weareth at whiles for an enchanter's robe155The eyed skin of a supple oncelot;And hath an ounce sleeker than youngling mole,A four-legged serpent he makes cower and couch,Now snarl, now hold its breath and mind his eye,And saith she is Miranda and my wife:160'Keeps for his Ariel, a tall pouch-bill craneHe bids go wade for fish and straight disgorge;Also a sea-beast, lumpish, which he snared,Blinded the eyes of, and brought somewhat tame,And split its toe-webs, and now pens the drudge165In a hole o' the rock and calls him Caliban;A bitter heart that bides its time and bites.'Plays thus at being Prosper in a way,Taketh his mirth with make-believes: so He.
His dam held that the Quiet made all things170Which Setebos vexed only: 'holds not so.Who made them weak, meant weakness He might vex.Had He meant other, while His hand was in,Why not make horny eyes no thorn could prick,Or plate my scalp with bone against the snow,175Or overscale my flesh 'neath joint and joint,Like an orc's armor? Aye—so spoil His sport!He is the One now: only He doth all.
'Saith, He may like, perchance, what profits Him.Aye, himself loves what does him good; but why?180'Gets good no otherwise. This blinded beastLoves whoso places fleshmeat on his nose,But, had he eyes, would want no help, but hateOr love, just as it liked him: He hath eyes.Also it pleaseth Setebos to work,185Use all His hands, and exercise much craft,By no means for the love of what is worked.'Tasteth, himself, no finer good i' the worldWhen all goes right, in this safe summertime,And he wants little, hungers, aches not much,190Than trying what to do with wit and strength.'Falls to make something: 'piled yon pile of turfs,And squared and stuck there squares of soft white chalk,And, with a fish-tooth, scratched a moon on each,And set up endwise certain spikes of tree,195And crowned the whole with a sloth's skull a-top,Found dead i' the woods, too hard for one to kill.No use at all i' the work, for work's sole sake;'Shall some day knock it down again: so He.
'Saith He is terrible: watch His feats in proof!200One hurricane will spoil six good months' hope.He hath a spite against me, that I know,Just as He favors Prosper, who knows why?So it is, all the same, as well I find.'Wove wattles half the winter, fenced them firm205With stone and stake to stop she-tortoisesCrawling to lay their eggs here: well, one wave,Feeling the foot of Him upon its neck,Gaped as a snake does, lolled out its large tongue,And licked the whole labor flat: so much for spite.210'Saw a ball flame down late (yonder it lies)Where, half an hour before, I slept i' the shade:Often they scatter sparkles: there is force!'Dug up a newt He may have envied onceAnd turned to stone, shut up inside a stone.215Please Him and hinder this?—What Prosper does?Aha, if He would tell me how! Not He!There is the sport: discover how or die!All need not die, for of the things o' the isleSome flee afar, some dive, some run up trees;220Those at His mercy—why, they please Him mostWhen ... when ... well, never try the same way twice!Repeat what act has pleased, He may grow wroth.You must not know, His ways, and play Him off,Sure of the issue. 'Doth the like himself:225'Spareth a squirrel that it nothing fearsBut steals the nut from underneath my thumb,And when I threat, bites stoutly in defense:'Spareth an urchin that contrariwise,Curls up into a ball, pretending death230For fright at my approach: the two ways please.But what would move my choler more than this,That either creature counted on its lifeTomorrow and next day and all days to come,Saying, forsooth, in the inmost of its heart,235"Because he did so yesterday with me,And otherwise with such another brute,So must he do henceforth and always."—Aye?Would teach the reasoning couple what "must" means!'Doth as he likes, or wherefore Lord? So He.240'Conceiveth all things will continue thus,And we shall have to live in fear of HimSo long as He lives, keeps His strength: no change,If He have done His best, make no new worldTo please Him more, so leave off watching this—245If He surprise not even the Quiet's selfSome strange day—or, suppose, grow into itAs grubs grow butterflies: else, here are we,And there is He, and nowhere help at all.
'Believeth with the life, the pain shall stop.250His dam held different, that after deathHe both plagued enemies and feasted friends:Idly! He doth His worst in this our life,Giving just respite lest we die through pain,Saving last pain for worst—with which, an end.255Meanwhile, the best way to escape His ireIs not to seem too happy. 'Sees, himself,Yonder two flies, with purple films and pink,Bask on the pompion-bell above: kills both.'Sees two black painful beetles roll their ball260On head and tail as if to save their lives:Moves them the stick away they strive to clear.
Even so, 'would have Him misconceive, supposeThis Caliban strives hard and ails no less,And always, above all else, envies Him;265Wherefore he mainly dances on dark nights,Moans in the sun, gets under holes to laugh,And never speaks his mind save housed as now:Outside, 'groans, curses. If He caught me here,O'erheard this speech, and asked, "What chucklest at?"270'Would, to appease Him, cut a finger off,Or of my three kid yearlings burn the best,Or let the toothsome apples rot on tree,Or push my tame beast for the orc to taste:While myself lit a fire, and made a song275And sung it, "What I hate, be consecrateTo celebrate Thee and Thy state, no mateFor Thee; what see for envy in poor me?"Hoping the while, since evils sometimes mend,Warts rub away, and sores are cured with slime,280That some strange day, will either the Quiet catchAnd conquer Setebos, or likelier HeDecrepit may doze, doze, as good as die.
[What, what? A curtain o'er the world at once!Crickets stop hissing; not a bird—or, yes,285There scuds His raven that has told Him all!It was fool's play, this prattling! Ha! The windShoulders the pillared dust, death's house o' the move,And fast invading fires begin! White blaze—A tree's head snaps—and there, there, there, there, there,290His thunder follows! Fool to gibe at Him!Lo! 'Lieth flat and loveth Setebos!'Maketh his teeth meet through his upper lip,Will let those quails fly, will not eat this monthOne little mess of whelks, so he may 'scape!]295