But take this tale and read it. If it seem
Only a tale, the light in it has turned
Dark facts to lanthorns for me. There are tales
More true than any fragment of the truth.
One of his homeless clan (who came to me
Dying), his last disciple’s wandering son,
Gave me the scroll. I give it now to you,—
The young swift-footed runner with the fire.
You’ll find strange thoughts; and, woven into the close,
His Golden Verses, with a thought more strange.”