| |
| I HAD my birth where stars were born, | |
| In the dim æons of the past: | |
| My cradle cosmic forces rocked, | |
| And to my first was linked my last. | |
| |
| Through boundless space the shuttle flew, | 5 |
| To weave the warp and woof of fate: | |
| In my begetting were conjoined | |
| The infinitely small and great. | |
| |
| The outmost star on being’s rim, | |
| The tiniest sand-grain of the earth, | 10 |
| The farthest thrill and nearest stir | |
| Were not indifferent to my birth. | |
| |
| And when at last the earth swung free, | |
| A little planet by the moon, | |
| For me the continent arose, | 15 |
| For me the ocean roared its tune; | |
| |
| For me the forests grew; for me | |
| The electric force ran to and fro; | |
| For me tribes wandered o’er the earth, | |
| Kingdoms arose, and cities grew; | 20 |
| |
| For me religions waxed and waned; | |
| For me the ages garnered store; | |
| For me ships traversed every sea; | |
| For me the wise ones learned their lore; | |
| |
| For me, through fire and blood and tears, | 25 |
| Man struggled onward up the height, | |
| On which, at last, from heaven falls | |
| An ever clearer, broader light. | |
| |
| The child of all the ages, I, | |
| Nursed on the exhaustless breasts of time; | 30 |
| By heroes thrilled, by sages taught, | |
| Sung to by bards of every clime. | |
| |
| Quintessence of the universe, | |
| Distilled at last from God’s own heart, | |
| In me concentred now abides | 35 |
| Of all that is the subtlest part. | |
| |
| The product of the ages past, | |
| Heir of the future, then, am I: | |
| So much am I divine that God | |
| Cannot afford to let me die. | 40 |
| |
| If I should ever cease to be, | |
| The farthest star its mate would miss, | |
| And, looking after me, would fall | |
| Down headlong darkening to the abyss. | |
| |
| For, if aught real that is could cease, | 45 |
| If the All-Father ever nods, | |
| That day across the heavens would fall | |
| Ragnarok, twilight of the gods. | |
| |
