Classic Poem

I cannot read your purpose, cast
Clearly into your heart and brain;
I can but contemplate the vast
Versatility of pain;

I can but turn me from the Sphinx,
Resume the old Sahara Road,
Find with the lizard and the lynx
A simple and a sure abode;

Let the mirage and lotos go,
Relinquish bliss and agony;
And in perpetual desert know
Palms and water — not for me.