You have not seen what I have seen, The town besieged by a million men; I saw it though, the people starved, My rib-bones here came through my skin. Thousands were killed and thousands died, We ate dead blow-flies from the stalls; "Help us, O Lord, our King," we cried; He could not help, for all our calls. No, but there was a poor mean man, A skinny man and mad, like me, He saw: he told the King his plan, A plan to set our city free. The King in fury had him bound, Dragged to the walls with kick and curse, And flung from off them to the ground; Daily our agonies grew worse. And all our sallies came to wreck, We ate the dead men from the grave, Our troops were killed or put in check, "O King," we cried, "in pity, save, Save us or we shall die," we cried. He could not save us, so we died. * * * * * * But then he called to mind the man Whose bones the dogs had picked by this, He murmured, "We will try the plan, Death would be better than what is. I'll try the madman's plan to-night. Do I remember it aright?" * * * * * * We did the madman's will, we won, We left the million rotting there; Not one remained alive, not one, The madman's wisdom was most rare. We laughed, we ate again, we drank, Rebuilt the city, walls and towers, We cried "We have the King to thank." We strewed his royal path with flowers. * * * * * * But I who am mad am wiser now, I wander in the city ditch, For wisdom grows on the withered bough. Flowers are fair and fruit is rich, But wisdom is lovelier than them all. So when the world is hard at work, I kneel in the foss below the wall On the rubble where the lizards lurk. * * * * * * The goutweed hides the poor man's bones, The mint-scent warms in the hot air, An influence comes out of the stones, The dead man's spirit quickens there, Singing, "I trod the piteous way The world despised me, comrades failed, But from above an unquenched ray Burned in my brain: it never quailed; My body shook, my mind had doubt, That star within me helped me on, Man, the walled town which cast me out, Was powerless like a fever gone. And now I know that light is like the sea, I was the rock it girt, it beat on me. I was the deaf-mute, blinded by a curse, Outside me was the starry universe I had but to unlatch to let it in. Nothing but mental blindness can be sin, All seeing saves, all hearing, all delight, I am a star. I wander through the night." Printed in the United States of America.