THE FORERUNNER HIS PARABLES AND POEMS BOOKS BY KAHLIL GIBRAN “_He is the William Blake of the twentieth century._” --_AUGUSTE RODIN._ _THE MADMAN (1918)_ [_With three original drawings by the author._] “His is an irresistible vigor and clarity of thought and feeling, together with a power of simple picturing, which makes it unforgettable. It is the voice and genius of the Arabic people.”--_The New York Evening Post._ “Never have I read anything like it, never has a little book brought me so deep and passionate a pleasure. He has breathed the spirit of the East on our cold and indifferent souls; and I, for one, feel almost as if I had been suffocated by the breath of an intense beauty.”--_The Liberator._ _TWENTY DRAWINGS (1919)_ [_With an Introductory Essay by Alice Raphael._] “It is Rodin that comes instantly to mind as a comparison. He has sensed a relation between man and the universe, and, with his astounding technique, is able to make us sense it too. Mr. Knopf is entitled to our gratitude.”--_Detroit Journal._ _These may be had at all bookshops or from the publisher_ ALFRED A. KNOPF 220 WEST FORTY-SECOND STREET NEW YORK [Illustration: drawing signed K. Gibran, 1920] · THE FORERUNNER · HIS PARABLES AND POEMS BY KAHLIL GIBRAN [Illustration: colophon] NEW YORK ALFRED · A · KNOPF MCMXX COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY KAHLIL GIBRAN PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONTENTS GOD’S FOOL 9 LOVE 15 THE KING-HERMIT 17 THE LION’S DAUGHTER 22 TYRANNY 26 THE SAINT 27 THE PLUTOCRAT 29 THE GREATER SELF 30 WAR AND THE SMALL NATIONS 32 CRITICS 33 POETS 35 THE WEATHER-COCK 37 THE KING OF ARADUS 38 OUT OF MY DEEPER HEART 39 DYNASTIES 41 KNOWLEDGE AND HALF-KNOWLEDGE 44 “SAID A SHEET OF SNOW-WHITE PAPER....” 46 THE SCHOLAR AND THE POET 47 VALUES 50 OTHER SEAS 51 REPENTANCE 52 THE DYING MAN AND THE VULTURE 53 BEYOND MY SOLITUDE 55 THE LAST WATCH 57 THE FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS VOLUME ARE RE- PRODUCED FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR You are your own forerunner, and the towers you have builded are but the foundation of your giant-self. And that self too shall be a foundation. And I too am my own forerunner, for the long shadow stretching before me at sunrise shall gather under my feet at the noon hour. Yet another sunrise shall lay another shadow before me, and that also shall be gathered at another noon.