Poem by Ralpg Waldo Emerson
Aug 06, 2004 07:18 AM
by stevestubbs
One of our Indian friends said recently that he was a devotee of the
BG. It occurs to me that someone might find the following short poem
interesting, which was written by Emerson after studying that
document.
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.
Far or forgot to me is near;
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.
The strong gods pine for my abode,
And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.
"Brahma," by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in English Poetry, volume 42 of The
Harvard Classics. P.F. Collier and Son, 1938, p. 1243.
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