There came whisperings in the winds
"Good bye! Good bye!"
Little voices called in the darkness:
"Good bye! Good bye!"
Then I stretched forth my arms.
"No--no--"
There came whisperings in the wind:
"Good bye! Good bye!"
Little voices called in the darkness:
"Good bye! Good bye!"
XLIV
I was in the darkness;
I could not see my words
Nor the wishes of my heart.
Then suddenly there was a great light--
"Let me into the darkness again."
XLV
Tradition, thou art for suckling children,
Thou art the enlivening milk for babes;
But no meat for men is in thee.
Then--
But, alas, we all are babes.
XLVI
Many red devils ran from my heart
And out upon the page,
They were so tiny
The pen could mash them.
And many struggled in the ink.
It was strange
To write in this red muck
Of things from my heart.
XLVII
"Think as I think," said a man,
"Or you are abominably wicked;
"You are a toad."
And after I had thought of it,
I said, "I will, then, be a toad."
XLVIII