Classic Poem

I will stand upon the star Arcturus
And know my littleness.
This little earth, prison of my destiny
But a grain of dust, blown by the breath
Of the Infinite.
Ourselves, not greater to the Universe
Than sand-fleas on the glistening sand of the sea.
I have denied Nature and falsified myself,
But now I stand in this Desert and bare my soul,
Even as the primeval Desert is bare.
I lift up my face and stretch my hands to the sky,
And in this place of Solitude cry aloud:
" O, Nature, only Creator and only God,
" Unknown and unknowable,
" Implacable and eternal,
" Teach me, almighty Mother,
" Which of us is the sinner:
" My sister, whom I have enslaved,
" My brother, whom I have disinherited,
" Or I, who have falsified your condition,
" I who have consented? "

Here is a seed, covered with threatening thorns,
Which blows about the Desert
And fastens in stony ground; refusing to die.
I will be such a seed, bearing thorns and a new life.
I will go to Nature, as a child to its mother.
I will place my hands between her knees,
And my head in her lap.
I will rest in her bosom, and she shall nurse me.
I will obey her in all things, that salvation may come.
She will feed me with Freedom,
Sweet as wild honeycomb, which is dark
And leaves a sharp tang in the mouth.
Man makes sin, and the strength of Sin is the Law.