| Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917. |
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| 212. I am the Reaper |
| By William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) |
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| I AM the Reaper. | |
| All things with heedful hook | |
| Silent I gather. | |
| Pale roses touched with the spring, | |
| Tall corn in summer, | 5 |
| Fruits rich with autumn, and frail winter blossoms— | |
| Reaping, still reaping— | |
| All things with heedful hook | |
| Timely I gather. | |
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| I am the Sower. | 10 |
| All the unbodied life | |
| Runs through my seed-sheet. | |
| Atom with atom wed, | |
| Each quickening the other, | |
| Fall through my hands, ever changing, still changeless. | 15 |
| Ceaselessly sowing, | |
| Life, incorruptible life, | |
| Flows from my seed-sheet. | |
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| Maker and breaker, | |
| I am the ebb and the flood, | 20 |
| Here and Hereafter, | |
| Sped through the tangle and coil | |
| Of infinite nature, | |
| Viewless and soundless I fashion all being. | |
| Taker and giver, | 25 |
| I am the womb and the grave, | |
| The Now and the Ever. | |
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