80

"I have blotted out from light & living the

dove & nightingale,

"And I have caused the earth worm to beg from

door to door.

"I have taught the thief a secret path into the

house of the just.

"I have taught pale artifice to spread his nets

upon the morning.

395 "My heavens are brass, my earth is iron, my moon

a clod of clay,

"My sun a pestilence burning at noon & a vapour

of death in night.

"What is the price of Experience? do men buy it

for a song?

"Or wisdom for a dance in the street?

No, it is bought with the price

"Of all that a man hath, his house, his wife, his children.

400 "Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none

come to buy,

"And in the wither'd field where the farmer plows

for bread in vain.

"It is an easy thing to triumph in the summer's sun

"And in the vintage & to sing on the waggon loaded

with-corn.

"It is an easy thing to talk of patience to the

afflicted,

405 "To speak the laws of prudence to the houseless

wanderer,

"To listen to the hungry raven's cry in wintry

season

"When the red blood is fili'd with wine & with the

marrow of lambs.

"It is an easy thing to laugh at wrathful elements,

"To hear the dog howl at the wintry door, the ox in

the slaughter house moan;

410 "To see a god on every wind & a blessing on every

blast;

"To hear sounds of love in the thunder storm that

destroys our enemies' house;

"To rejoice in the blight that covers his field, &

the sickness that cuts off his children,

"While our olive & vine sing & laugh round our door,

& our children bring fruits & flowers.

"Then the groan & the dolor are quite forgotten, &

the slave grinding at the mill,

415 "And the captive in chains, & the poor in the prison,

& the soldier in the field "When the shatter'd bone hath laid him groaning among

the happier dead.