| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1246. Egotism |
| | | By Edward Sanford Martin |
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| WITHOUT him still this whirling earth | |
| Might spin its course around the sun, | |
| And death still dog the heels of birth, | |
| And life be lived, and duty done. | |
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| Without him let the rapt earth dree | 5 |
| What doom its twin rotations earn; | |
| Whither or whence, are naught to me, | |
| Save as his being they concern. | |
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| Comets may crash, or inner fire | |
| Burn out and leave an arid crust, | 10 |
| Or earth may lose Cohesion’s tire, | |
| And melt to planetary dust. | |
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| It ’s naught to me if he ’s not here, | |
| I ’ll not lament, nor even sigh; | |
| I shall not feel the jar, nor fear, | 15 |
| For I am he, and he is I. | |
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