The wafir of Time I have bitten—sweet it was not. Each tapir of thought stood at flare in my soul—and I saw only the density of the gloom. My soul has fumed at the lips of Thy women. (Pah! ‘twas a fool's trick to try to seduce me the HUNTER OF THEE.) Effort, emotion, thought, dream, lust—what have these for me? I came to judge of Thy works, not to dance to Thy pipings. * * * * * * * * * * Thou canst not stanch the woe that is mine, Thou canst not bribe to sleep my Everlasting Nay. Godlike am I in Thy presence, As weary as Change, and as young; A mendicant rebel, a Presage, a rejecter, A contriver of strange things, unbegotten, eternal! * * * * * * * * * * An abattoir hid in a garden of roses— Such is Thy universe: Thus do I judge.
Publication History
The Shadow-Eater [1915/17 and 1923]
1923 Edition Text Changes
- [asterisks separating stanzas replaced with blank lines]
- wafir > wafer
- tapir > taper
- HUNTER OF THEE > Hunter of Thee
- Thus do I judge. > Thus do I judge!