Bartholomew
01-27-2008, 02:34 PM
by E. A. Bartholomew
Man is neither animal nor god
Nor does he pass from one into the next.
Though thund'rous leaps may propagate his trod
To forests and to heavens, he objects
Nor does he pass from one into the next.
Once his steel and concrete empires span
To forests and to heavens, he objects
To that abyss from which his spirit ran.
Once, his steel and concrete empires' span
Accrued by bestial means the sea and sod;
To that abyss from which his spirit ran
He prayed and made a sceptre of his rod.
Accrued by bestial means, the sea and sod
Now rock and root by gentler human hands;
He prayed and made a sceptre of his rod,
But overtaxed from kneeling, now he stands.
Now, rock and root, by gentler human hands,
Displant and carry off from fallow fields,
But overtaxed from kneeling, now he stands
To walk along the boundaries of his yields.
Displant and carry off from fallow fields,
For man is not content in field nor cell,
To walk along the boundaries of his yields:
Along the deserts and the gates to hell.
For man is not content in field nor cell
Nor does he pass from one into the next.
Along the deserts and the gates to hell,
To forests, and to heavens, he objects,
Nor does he pass from one into the next.
Though thund'rous leaps may propagate his trod,
To forests, and to heavens, he objects:
Man is neither animal nor god.
Man is neither animal nor god
Nor does he pass from one into the next.
Though thund'rous leaps may propagate his trod
To forests and to heavens, he objects
Nor does he pass from one into the next.
Once his steel and concrete empires span
To forests and to heavens, he objects
To that abyss from which his spirit ran.
Once, his steel and concrete empires' span
Accrued by bestial means the sea and sod;
To that abyss from which his spirit ran
He prayed and made a sceptre of his rod.
Accrued by bestial means, the sea and sod
Now rock and root by gentler human hands;
He prayed and made a sceptre of his rod,
But overtaxed from kneeling, now he stands.
Now, rock and root, by gentler human hands,
Displant and carry off from fallow fields,
But overtaxed from kneeling, now he stands
To walk along the boundaries of his yields.
Displant and carry off from fallow fields,
For man is not content in field nor cell,
To walk along the boundaries of his yields:
Along the deserts and the gates to hell.
For man is not content in field nor cell
Nor does he pass from one into the next.
Along the deserts and the gates to hell,
To forests, and to heavens, he objects,
Nor does he pass from one into the next.
Though thund'rous leaps may propagate his trod,
To forests, and to heavens, he objects:
Man is neither animal nor god.