| Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917. |
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| 79. Brahma |
| By Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) |
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| IF the red slayer think he slays, | |
| Or if the slain think he is slain, | |
| They know not well the subtle ways | |
| I keep, and pass, and turn again. | |
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| Far or forgot to me is near; | 5 |
| Shadow and sunlight are the same; | |
| The vanished gods to me appear; | |
| And one to me are shame and fame. | |
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| They reckon ill who leave me out; | |
| When me they fly, I am the wings; | 10 |
| I am the doubter and the doubt, | |
| And I the hymn the Brahmin sings. | |
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| The strong gods pine for my abode, | |
| And pine in vain the sacred Seven; | |
| But thou, meek lover of the good! | 15 |
| Fine me and turn thy back on heaven. | |
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