The face that in our vision feels Again the venom that we flung, Transfigured to the world reveals The vigilance to which we clung. Shrewd, hallowed, harassed, and among The mysteries that are untold, The face we see was never young Nor could it ever have been old. For he, to whom we had applied Our shopman’s test of age and worth, Was elemental when he died, As he was ancient at his birth: The saddest among kings of earth, Bowed with a galling crown, this man Met rancor with a cryptic mirth, Laconic--and Olympian. The love, the grandeur, and the fame Are bounded by the world alone; The calm, the smouldering, and the flame Of awful patience were his own: With him they are forever flown Past all our fond self-shadowings, Wherewith we cumber the Unknown As with inept, Icarian wings. For we were not as other men: ’Twas ours to soar and his to see; But we are coming down again, And we shall come down pleasantly; Nor shall we longer disagree On what it is to be sublime, But flourish in our perigee And have one Titan at a time. [1] Supposed to have been written not long after the Civil War. THE TOWN DOWN THE RIVER I Said the Watcher by the Way To the young and the unladen, To the boy and to the maiden, “God be with you both to-day. First your song came ringing, Now you come, you two,-- Knowing naught of what you do, Or of what your dreams are bringing. “Oh you children who go singing To the Town down the River, Where the millions cringe and shiver, Tell me what you know to-day; Tell me how far you are going, Tell me how you find your way. O you children who go dreaming, Tell me what you dream to-day.” “He is old and we have heard him,” Said the boy then to the maiden; “He is old and heavy laden With a load we throw away. Care may come to find us, Age may lay us low; Still, we seek the light we know, And the dead we leave behind us. “Did he think that he would blind us Into such a small believing As to live without achieving, When the lights have led so far? Let him watch or let him wither,-- Shall he tell us where we are? We know best who go together, Downward, onward, and so far.” II Said the Watcher by the Way To the fiery folk that hastened, To the loud and the unchastened, “You are strong, I see, to-day. Strength and hope may lead you To the journey’s end,-- Each to be the other’s friend If the Town should fail to need you. “And are ravens there to feed you In the Town down the River, Where the gift appalls the giver And youth hardens day by day? O you brave and you unshaken, Are you truly on your way? And are sirens in the River, That you come so far to-day?”