The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.
Yes: he was soliloquising, not making something.
Do not the words of Jesus ring
Like nails knocked into a board
In his father's workshop?
On two consecutive pages are notes showing how his mind is wrestling with the question, the answer to which would complete his philosophy:
XMAS DAY
Good news: but if you ask me what it is, I know not;
It is a track of feet in the snow,
It is a lantern showing a path,
It is a door set open.
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
I live in an age of varied powers and knowledge,
Of steam, science, democracy, journalism, art:
But when my love rises like a sea,
I have to go back to an obscure tribe and a slain man
To formulate a blessing.
JULIAN
"Vicisti Galilæe," he said, and sank conquered
After wrestling with the most gigantic of powers,
A dead man.
THE CRUCIFIED
On a naked slope of a poor province
A Roman soldier stood staring at a gibbet,
Then he said, "Surely this was a righteous man,"
And a new chapter of history opened,
Having that for its motto.