^s-g 
 
 ^NRLF 
 
 
ALVMNVS BOOK F\'ND 
 
 BfeH<? 
 
QUESTS 
 
 POEMS IN PROSE 
 
 BY 
 
 SYLVIA HORTENSE BLISS 
 
 MONTPELIER, VERMONT 
 
 CAPITAL CITY PRESS 
 1920 
 
WA^V^ 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY SYLVIA HORTENSE BLISS 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 Published July 1920 
 
QUESTS 
 
 469912 
 
3 will disclose to those who have not seetij the 
 beauty of the world. 
 
 I will not strive to enhance the beauty by fine 
 phrases, nor hide it under a covering of words. 
 
 I will stand aside that I may not be in the way 
 of a tree and that my shadow may not fall upon a 
 iiower. 
 
 I will be silent while the thrush sings and the 
 young leaves rustle in the wind. 
 
 I will hide my little light that men may not turn 
 from the sunlight nor withdraw their gaze from the 
 night sky. 
 
 I will be as one who stands humbly at the portal 
 to give entrance to those who seek the beauty of the 
 world. 
 
 I open doors before you. You may pass through 
 or turn away, as you will. 
 
 There are doors which I will open that shall 
 never close. You will see the open doors and before 
 you are aware you will have passed through. 
 
I. Quests OF Day AND Night . . ii 
 
 II. The Quest of Nature . . 25 
 
 III. The Quest of Love .... 49 
 
 IV. The Quest of Life ... 75 
 V. The Eternal Quest ... 81 
 
/ brought to them a flower and they gave me 
 thanks. I brought to them a little poem and they 
 gave me praise. 
 
 I brought to them a truth and they were silent. 
 I could not know if they received it. 
 
I 
 
 QUESTS OF DAY AND NIGHT 
 
QUESTS OF DAY AND NIGHT 
 
 From the east cometh the day. Again it has 
 circled the earth and looked upon all lands and 
 all peoples. 
 
 It has seen the enterprises and tasks of men 
 and is not weary. It has beheld the injustice 
 and oppression of men and is not cast down. 
 It has passed over degradation and foulness and 
 is not itself defiled. 
 
 The day has moved on the face of deep waters 
 and brings the gleam of waves and the fresh 
 breeze of the sea. It has passed over vast 
 forests and caught the fragrance of the fir tree 
 and the morning song of birds. It has shone 
 upon the wise and strong, the true and undefiled 
 of earth, and with the dawning light brings the 
 great gift of hope. 
 
 From the east cometh the day. 
 
 From the east cometh the night. It follows the 
 day as a shadow. 
 
 All that the pride and shame of man hide from 
 the day is known to the night. 
 
 The moan of him who is brave and silent in 
 the Hght is heard by her in the darkness, and the 
 
 II 
 
QUESTS 
 
 anguished face of him who smiles by day is 
 sheltered upon her deep breast. 
 
 The wounds and sickness of man are open to 
 her gaze, and the temptation and secret guilt 
 of man she covers. 
 
 Still is the night not over-burdened nor her 
 mercy consumed. Continually she receives the 
 weary and the troubled soul. 
 
 From the east cometh the night. 
 
 How shall one know the night if he ventures 
 forth only in the day? How shall one become 
 acquainted with darkness if he dwells contin- 
 ually in the light .^ 
 
 The day is the gift of the sun. From whence 
 cometh the night .^ 
 
 Night, thou art nearer than the day. With 
 tenderness thou enfoldest me and impartest to 
 me thy secret thoughts. 
 
 The thoughts of the day are simple and are 
 known unto men; thy thoughts are mysterious 
 and great. Thou knowest all that is to come. 
 
 The darkness was before the light and the 
 night before the day. 
 
 The day is but a moment of the eternal night. 
 It is a flower upon the breast of darkness. 
 
 The white flower of day shall fade and I will 
 lay my head where it has died, upon the kind 
 and tender breast of night. 
 
 12 
 
QUESTS OF DAY AND NIGHT 
 
 The day has vanished. I will stand still and 
 let the night flow into my soul. 
 
 I will not flee from the night; I will not hasten 
 to roofed enclosures and bright lights. 
 
 My soul needs the night, the cool, enfolding, 
 unifying night. The day breaks my soul in a 
 thousand pieces; they lie in a heap, dusty and 
 dimmed by the contacts of the world. Each 
 fragment has a separate life and is rebel against 
 the whole. There is no leader; there is no rest. 
 
 In the west long mountains lie, dusky, purple- 
 shadowed, against the deepening orange of the 
 sky. So clear the air, a single leaf, upblown, 
 might show its etched shape athwart the flame. 
 High in the vault red Mars, and higher still, 
 Arcturus, take our snug earth within their cog- 
 nizance. 
 
 Night advances, quenching the sunset's fire, 
 silencing the birds, unlocking scents of balsam 
 and of fern. A flood of cool air flows from the 
 wide realm of mystery beyond the east. Dark- 
 ness blots out form and color. Night has come. 
 
 I will not flee. I will stand still and the night 
 will flow into my soul, — the cool, enfolding, 
 unifying night. 
 
 I WILL descend to the Valley of Sleep which 
 lies between the hills of Evening and of 
 Morning. 
 
 13 
 
QUESTS 
 
 I will cast off the trappings of the day, for 
 unclothed in body and mind must I enter the 
 Valley of Sleep. 
 
 The cool air uprushes from the dark gulf and 
 extinguishes the torch of my understanding 
 which I would fain carry with me to light the 
 way. Disarmed in body and mind must I enter 
 the Valley of Sleep; its fastnesses are not to be 
 taken by force and its mysteries are not open 
 to the understanding. 
 
 The depth of the Valley of Sleep is greater 
 than the height of the hills of Evening and of 
 Morning. It is greater than the height of the 
 Mount of Day; no man knoweth its extent. It 
 is deeper than the foundations of the world, 
 and the mind of man can not compass it. 
 
 Into the Valley of Sleep enter the ten thousand 
 thousands of earth. Still is its space not filled 
 nor its boundaries strained. No man is in the 
 way of another; there is room for the solitude 
 of each. 
 
 My soul journeys farther than my body in the 
 Valley of Sleep. Unafraid it ventures into the 
 immensity and returns with no tidings of its 
 wanderings. My mind drops hints of its fan- 
 tasies and dreams as it ascends the Hill of Morn- 
 ing, but my soul keeps its own counsel. 
 
 I depart from my friends and journey far 
 from my habitation, but never more than a day*s 
 journey am I from the Valley of Sleep which 
 lies between the hills of Evening and of Morning. 
 
 14 
 
QUESTS OF DAY AND NIGHT 
 
 The shadow of one day shall not fall upon another 
 day. 
 
 Between them is the gentle night which divides 
 the days and shuts the door that yesterday may 
 not pass into today. 
 
 The pain of yesterday shall not enter the 
 domain of today nor the sorrow of yesterday 
 pass its boundaries. 
 
 The loss of yesterday shall not darken the 
 new day nor the sin of yesterday cloud its morn- 
 ing. 
 
 But for the joy of yesterday there is the open 
 door and the gentle night gives entrance to hope. 
 
 At night I was weary and disheartened for I 
 heard men say, There is nothing new under the 
 sun, and we spend our years as a tale that is 
 told. 
 
 Other voices spoke to me in my sleep, and I 
 arose to a day as new as the first day of the 
 world. 
 
 The ancient tale of life was rife with meaning 
 and its last word was one of hope. 
 
 Long shadows lie across my path. They are 
 not shadows of past joys and sweet companion- 
 
 15 
 
QUESTS 
 
 ships. They are not shadows of the evening 
 hour, which will lengthen, merge in darkness and 
 prevail. 
 
 They are shadows of the morning and fall 
 westward. The dew on the grass glistens in 
 the light of the rising sun and the shadows fade 
 and vanish as the great day advances. 
 
 I LEANED from my window that my eyes and 
 my soul might see far into the darkness of the 
 night. 
 
 I saw only the light from my window on the 
 dark trees, and in the midst of the light the 
 shadow of myself. 
 
 I AWOKE this morning with a sweet song in my 
 heart. I could not understand the song for it 
 was a song of joy, and there was no joy in my 
 life. The years stretched bleak and difficult 
 before me. 
 
 As I listened to the low singing I knew it was 
 the lingering music of the hope which died yes- 
 terday in my heart. 
 
 A MULTITUDE of thoughts rush by me in the 
 darkness, and numberless words pass swiftly, 
 
 i6 
 
QUESTS OF DAY AND NIGHT 
 
 leaving no trace. I am cast down, and sorrowful 
 with sense of loss. 
 
 Then am I spoken to from the silence: — Since 
 the beginning of the world have thoughts been 
 born and words multiplied. As the leaves of a 
 great forest, so are thoughts, and as grains of 
 sand, so is the number of words. 
 
 Thy task is not that of increasing thoughts 
 nor of multiplying words. Thy thoughts shall 
 be simple and thy words few. Thou shalt see 
 that from which thoughts spring and that which 
 giveth rise to words. 
 
 Regret not the thoughts that vanish and the 
 words which pass swiftly. Thou shalt see that 
 which abides. 
 
 Do we hunger that we may be filled, and thirst 
 that our thirst may be quenched.'' 
 
 Do we seek that we may find, and climb that 
 we may reach the height.? Do we question that 
 we may be answered, and strive that we may 
 attain ? 
 
 Is the goal of longing, satisfaction, and of 
 aspiration, content.? Is the end of prayer, 
 reception, and of love, possession? 
 
 A thirst that is quenched is a dead thirst, and 
 he who is content no longer aspires. 
 
 Feed me with hunger and satisfy me with 
 longing. 
 
 17 
 
QUESTS 
 
 Make not an end of striving in my life. Let 
 not love and hope die in my heart. 
 
 Where is youth.'' Where is age.? 
 
 Is a little child young, and the rocky face of a 
 mountain, old.-* Is a wise man young, and the 
 earth upon which he walks of great age? 
 
 The Pyramids are more ancient than the 
 Pyrenees, and the Parthenon than the Rock of 
 Gibraltar. Rome was before the Alps, and in 
 the presence of the nations of the world Niagara 
 is as the rain of yesterday. 
 
 The dust of the earth has come but a little 
 way and its journey is within imagined time. 
 
 The spirit of man has come from a great 
 distance and been long on the way. It gained 
 knowledge before the foundation of the world, 
 and wisdom when the stars were yet unborn. 
 
 All that it hath is not now manifest. 
 
 The concerns of man are not the only concerns 
 of earth. 
 
 There are the concerns of the crows, moving 
 with harsh cries across the sky, and the concerns 
 of the thrushes and sparrows, singing among the 
 young leaves. 
 
 I8 
 
QUESTS OF DAY AND NIGHT 
 
 There Is the concern of the spider, drawing her 
 silk threads from twig to twig, and the concern 
 of the moth whose span of Hfe Is but a day. 
 
 There are the concerns of tiny, winged crea- 
 tures and of little crawling worms, of frogs in 
 the pools and borers In the trees, of swift, small 
 animals and of great creatures of stealth and 
 strength. 
 
 There Is the business of grass and tree, fern 
 and moss, mushroom and lichen, and under all 
 skies the beautiful business of the flowers. 
 
 Among men, and where man Is not, go on 
 the concerns of the other creatures of the world. 
 
 The moth has come too near the flame and lies 
 quiet, with scorched wings. 
 
 It is a little thing — the death of a moth; 
 merely the close of one of numberless brief lives. 
 The moth will not be missed nor its death noticed. 
 
 It is a strange thing — the death of a moth. 
 It is more than the ending of a few hours' life. 
 
 The moth has missed Its bridal, and a stream 
 of life from a past more far than man can reckon 
 or conceive, has ceased to flow. 
 
 The moth lies quiet, with scorched wings, 
 while the flame burns brightly. 
 
 19 
 
QUESTS 
 
 As I lie. on the grass a little creature crawls 
 upon my hand. 
 
 It is so small and weak it becomes entangled 
 among the hairs of my hand. The hairs are as 
 fallen trees impeding its progress. 
 
 I do not know the name of the little creature 
 nor its destiny, but I will help it to pass the 
 barriers. 
 
 I was once lost in a great wood v/here fallen 
 trees impeded my way. 
 
 The taste of the day is bitter in my mouth. 
 The walls of the house have enclosed me and the 
 hands of my spirit were not able to reach to the 
 outer air. 
 
 I have been caught on the wheel of tasks which 
 repeat themselves endlessly for each generation, 
 and my soul was not for an instant free to pursue 
 the way which turns not upon itself, but moves 
 ever forward. 
 
 The day is as one that is lost. 
 
 A thing so small as a hand before my face 
 hides from me the great sun. 
 
 A thing smaller than my hand hides from my 
 spirit the great light of life. 
 
 How may I escape from the shadow of little 
 things ^ 
 
 20 
 
QUESTS OF DAY AND NIGHT 
 
 As at the sound of a clear-toned bell my soul 
 has awakened and my spirit moves swiftly. 
 
 My soul is not hindered nor my spirit detained. 
 They are not bound by the wheel of tasks which 
 repeat themselves endlessly, but are free to pur- 
 sue the way which turns not upon itself. 
 
 Long I sent messengers of fear before me. Dread 
 marked the path and apprehension prepared the 
 way. 
 
 According to the messengers I sent was the 
 path which I traveled. 
 
 One day hope escaped and ran before me; 
 confidence followed, and the expectation of great 
 good. 
 
 The path I found was new and beautiful, for 
 according to the messengers I sent was the way 
 I was to travel. 
 
 Before me go now winged messengers of the 
 spirit. Far in advance they fly, making ready the 
 path. Dim shapes of fear and dread are slain as 
 they pass, and for apprehension there is no place. 
 
 The path before me is ever new and beautiful, 
 for according to the messengers I send is the way 
 which I travel. 
 
 The fields of earth are drenched with blood. 
 They will be fertile in coming years from the 
 
 21 
 
QUESTS 
 
 sowing of human flesh. Peace has become a 
 memory, and the sky is darkened by the rising 
 of sad thoughts. 
 
 Will the spring flowers come as of old, when 
 the sky was clear and men heard not the roar 
 of battle.? 
 
 The spring flowers have come. They have 
 risen as delicate fancies in a mind long vexed by 
 grave and dreary thoughts. They have come as 
 tender impulses in a heart long filled with hatred 
 and violence. 
 
 Their faint breath is stronger than the smoke 
 of battle, and their beauty more potent than 
 force of arms. 
 
 War to the flowers of spring is but the passing 
 of a cloud in the clear sky of a long day. 
 
 22 
 
II 
 
 THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
 The snowy cloak of the world is unclasped and 
 waits, loosened and ready to fall from the fields 
 and woods. 
 
 The south-sloping hills are bare; soon the warm 
 tenderness of the sun will have wrought in them 
 the marvel of life, and blades of grass and folded 
 leaves of buttercup will break forth from the 
 quickened earth. 
 
 The buds of the trees cast off their winter 
 shields and give their young hearts to the sun. 
 Long have they waited that they may unfold 
 to bright and shimmering leaves. 
 
 Slowly the earth yields to the wooing of the 
 returning sun. 
 
 The earth has hidden herself from her lover. 
 Again is she covered with a garment of white; 
 she denies herself to the sun. 
 
 The earth is cold. A strong, fierce wind lifts 
 the snow in sheets of white and wavering flame. 
 Sprouting grass and buttercup are covered and 
 the buds of the trees shrink from the icy touch. 
 Birds hide themselves and are still. 
 
 The wind withdraws itself; it runs along far 
 hills and sinks in silence. The sun thrusts 
 
 25 
 
QUESTS 
 
 warm rays through the clouds and the earth 
 answers with a smile. 
 
 She has relented. Her heart thrills. From 
 a tall tree a bluebird sends upward its soft song. 
 
 The earth is bare. She has no defense and no 
 hiding-place from the sun; glorious is her yielding. 
 
 Green runs over her fields as a crimson flush 
 over the cheek of a woman whose heart is stirred. 
 
 By warm showers is the earth renewed. The 
 rain is as quiet weeping which leaves the heart 
 tender and pure, and prepared for great joy. 
 
 Little flowers spring up as thoughts which can 
 not be repressed. Where snow first left the wood, 
 hepaticas push upward through dead leaves, and 
 where the sandy hill-side nears the stream, 
 arbutus hides among the evergreens. 
 
 The blossoming of the trees, when poplars 
 hang out fringe of gray and maples are a cloud 
 of red, is a dawning smile, and when the shining 
 leaves burst forth I hear the first soft laughter 
 of the earth. 
 
 The evergreens have not awakened. They rest 
 serene in pride of unshed leaves and the drowsi- 
 ness of autumn lingers in their branches. 
 
 26 
 
THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
 Arbutus opens at their foot and ferns uncoil 
 within their shadow. Young leaves of birch 
 and poplar beckon, and tall maples flush with the 
 joy of May. 
 
 Still are the evergreens unmoved. 
 Then the shad bush lays its thin leaves and 
 fair white flowers against the pine's dark cloud, 
 and the pine wakes at the caress. Its pale 
 shoots rise toward the sky, and all the hemlocks 
 and the firs are tipped with tender green. 
 
 The willow with tassels of gold, soft and fra- 
 grant, the willow with tassels of silver-green, stiff 
 and sweet, — they dwell apart. 
 
 The width of a road divides them, and the 
 dense greenness of a fir hides each from the other's 
 sight. 
 
 My lord willow with the golden blossoms, my 
 lady willow with sweet maiden flowers — I would 
 know the bond uniting you. 
 
 Rooted in earth, the utmost reaching of your 
 lithe boughs vain, is each yet conscious of the 
 other as you are not of maple and of fir.'' 
 
 Where is your love, my lord.^ Diffused 
 through root and branch, and ungrown, folded 
 leaves, — or in each tiny flower.^ Is it one 
 message or a hundred that the bee, laden with 
 pollen, bears to the bush beyond the fir.^ 
 
 27 
 
QUESTS 
 
 My lady willow, where is hidden your love? 
 When the bee alights upon your tasseled boughs, 
 are there a hundred hearts, or one, whose longings 
 still at the soft touch of love? 
 
 As a troop of dancers in fluttering robes of green, 
 come the leaves. 
 
 They throng the wood and sweep through the 
 valley; they climb the hills and crowd upon the 
 winding road. 
 
 Their garments glisten in the sun and they 
 lightly sway to music which I can not hear. 
 
 They hide the branches of the trees and close 
 the windows of the forest that I may not see 
 within. 
 
 I enter the forest and all the paths are cur- 
 tained and all the vistas veiled with fresh and 
 tremulous leaves. 
 
 Marvelous and to be praised are the stars in 
 the night sky. The span of their life is in un- 
 reckoned time and the goal to which they move 
 out-distances man's thought. 
 
 More marvelous are the leaves of a tree which 
 come each spring from tiny folded buds. 
 
 A thousand and a thousand forms of green, 
 woven of tissue that no man can make; thin, 
 serrate-edged, patterned unerringly, living for 
 
 28 
 
THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
 beauty and as playthings for the wind, yet toll- 
 ing all their short lives through that they may 
 add their tribute to the great tree's growth, 
 dying in beauty and in glory that they have not 
 known, — 
 
 I praise the marvel and the mystery of leaves. 
 
 Where have been hidden the shape of the ferns 
 and the pattern of the leaves? Where were 
 stored the plan of the columbine and the color 
 of the rose? 
 
 Birds return from the south, but the flowers 
 are born each year. The green of the trees runs 
 into molds I can not see, and the whiteness of 
 the anemone gathers in pure stars. 
 
 Is the pattern of a fern in Its root, and the 
 tint of a flower in Its seed? 
 
 The earth has held each in remembrance, and 
 spring awakens her thoughts. 
 
 How many springs have the trees sent out their 
 leaves? How many springs has the wind-flower 
 unfolded its whiteness in the wood, and the fern 
 broken earth with its coiled fronds? 
 
 In those countless springs before man watched, 
 were the edges of the leaves as finely cut? Were 
 the petals of the flower as purely white? Did 
 ferns uncoil their fronds with such slow grace? 
 
 29 
 
QUESTS 
 
 Before eyes saw did Nature work with tool 
 as delicate and art as fine? 
 
 Was there no slighting in the finish of a leaf 
 or tinting of a flower, before man came? 
 
 The wood is a mist of green starred with white 
 flowers. 
 
 From sunny hollows nods the crimson trillium, 
 and in wide, vivid beds, the little oak fern lifts 
 its tender fronds. 
 
 A presence passes in the undergrowth, but 
 turn as swiftly as I may I see only the innocent, 
 wise faces of the flowers and feel the glad tremor 
 in the enlightened air. 
 
 Have the birds set a watch for the dawn? 
 
 When the blackness of night fades and mist 
 whitens in the long valley, a little voice breaks 
 the silence. 
 
 It has awakened a robin. It has awakened a 
 sparrow. The hermit thrush has heard. 
 
 One by one the birds slip into a sea of song 
 which rolls in sparkling waves above the damp 
 and silent earth. 
 
 The risen sun dispels the mist in the long valley, 
 and quiets the sea of song in field and wood. 
 
 30 
 
THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
 Fragments of mist float away, and scattered 
 songs are heard as waves of a receding ocean 
 which break on far, out-lying rocks. 
 
 How long has been thy journey, little twin- 
 flower, and from whence? 
 
 By what strange, devious pathway hast thou 
 reached this mossy bed where field and forest 
 meet ? 
 
 Thy green vines lie at ease, and thy paired, 
 rosy flowers are lifted with the careless grace of 
 those who long have dwelt upon the land. 
 
 When this thy home was buried deep be- 
 neath the field of ice, where wert thou .? When the 
 glacier passed, didst thou then come, a traveler 
 from the south .^ 
 
 And what wert thou before flowers dwelt on 
 earth.? Did thy sweet scent and dainty beauty 
 lie imprisoned in some lowly form in that far 
 time.'' 
 
 Has thy fair spirit kept, undoubtingly, through 
 all the unreckoned time, a vision of this end.? 
 
 Are the trees disquieted and full of fear when 
 the wind lifts to view the under-surfaces of their 
 leaves .? 
 
 The wind moves among the trees as the waters 
 of an invisible stream. The branches gently rise 
 
 31 
 
QUESTS 
 
 and fall upon long, slow waves; they bend near 
 to breaking in a swift current. The waters of 
 the wind play with a single leaf of a full tree and 
 tease not the others. 
 
 The stream eddies among the trees and they 
 sway to right and left. They return to their 
 place and are caught again in the current. Little 
 waves run over the tree-tops and lose themselves 
 in quietness. 
 
 With strength and swiftness the stream flows 
 from the north. It passes as a flood over the 
 trees and they bend low under its flowing. They 
 can not lift themselves till it is past. 
 
 The moon rises and the stream broadens to a 
 quiet lake. The trees are still. 
 
 I DESCEND from sunny hills to the dusky 
 swamp. 
 
 The air is moist, and heavy with the fra- 
 grance of deep moss and fern. 
 
 In the green pool a wide-mouthed frog with 
 bronze-rimmed eyes, sits on a slimy log and waits 
 for flies. A turtle slips beneath the scum. 
 
 They are primal things lingering on the earth. 
 
 Alders crowd upon the pool, and when rain 
 is withheld the ground creeps outward. 
 
 When the pool shall at last be filled with the 
 alder and the spruce, will the primal things 
 vanish from the earth .^ 
 
 32 
 
THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
 The sun as it nears the western mountains, 
 sinks in a sea of rippled white. The day darkens 
 and the air grows chill. A bird begins its even 
 song. 
 
 The white sea widens and overspreads the 
 western sky. Will the sun emerge and once 
 more touch the earth ? 
 
 The sea of cloud passes and the sun, low as the 
 mountain peaks, remembers the earth. Little 
 pools gleam, and blades of grass glisten in the 
 golden light. 
 
 Eastward-falling shadows have grown longer 
 and the day is near its close. 
 
 The sea of rippled white has reached the east 
 and covers the full moon. Will the moon emerge 
 and once more touch the earth? 
 
 The sky is deep and clear; but for the noon-day 
 sun I could see a multitude of stars. 
 
 The wind brings from sun-warmed fields the 
 sweetness of clover and the fragrance of wild 
 berries and of ripening grass. 
 
 A bobolink flies low and scatters liquid notes 
 above the waving grain. " 
 
 When the wind is still and a white cloud veils 
 the sun, I hear in far woods the thrush's hermit 
 song. 
 
 33 
 
QUESTS 
 
 Gray dust lies soft and deep upon the winding 
 road, and whitens the fresh green of wayside 
 shrubs. 
 
 Heat hovers over parching fields, and the thin 
 leaves of the jewel-weed droop wan and pale 
 beneath the sun's long look. 
 
 The shadow of the wood comes forth to meet 
 me and I am drawn within the shelter of dark 
 trees. 
 
 The wood Is cool and merciful. Long fronds 
 of fragrant fern that have not known the sun's 
 warm gaze, bend above moist, mossed rocks, 
 and from the mire wild callas lift their snowy 
 spathes among broad, shining leaves. 
 
 Within the wood is kept alive the memory 
 of rain, till rain shall come. 
 
 The rain ceased and the wind died. The song 
 of the cricket filled the silence as if It had not 
 ceased through the wind and the rain. It 
 was the voice of silence. 
 
 I sought the cricket to learn the secret of its 
 song. My scalpel and microscope revealed only 
 the file and saw of its wing-covers; they did not 
 disclose the secret of the cricket's song. 
 
 The wild orchid opened its fringed and purple 
 blossom by the roadside and gave to me its 
 mysterious fragrance. In return I rent its beauty 
 
 34 
 
THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
 that I might discern the secret of Its charm. In 
 my hands remained but torn and blackened 
 tissue, and the fragrance had fled. 
 
 Then a Voice salth: The secret of anything 
 Is not within Itself. Continue thy search until 
 the smallest atoms are open to thy view, yet 
 shalt thou be as one who gazes Into an empty 
 chamber whose occupant has awakened and 
 fled. The secret of the sunbeam Is In the sun, 
 and the secret of the wave Is In the ocean and 
 the wind. The secrets of the cricket and of the or- 
 chid are not within themselves. They are beyond. 
 
 I asked: Where shall I search.? The Voice 
 was silent. Then I wondered. Where Is the 
 secret of man If It Is not within himself: 
 
 The rising tide of life breaks upon earth In waves 
 of green crested with foam of flowers. 
 
 There Is no pause In the beating of waves 
 upon the shore of earth. The tide mounts 
 higher, and I wonder, When will the spring cease 
 Its coming that the summer may appear? 
 
 There Is a day when a wave breaks farther 
 from my feet and the brightness of its crest is 
 dulled. The tide has turned. 
 
 In a moment that I did not know, the summer 
 passed. 
 
 If I fear the night I miss the secrets of the night. 
 I will go out quietly In the darkness. 
 
 35 
 
QUESTS 
 
 The clouds are heavy and have hidden the 
 stars. A bat shps past; an owl flies low and 
 silently on heavy wings. 
 
 The black leaves stir in winds I can not feel, 
 and little unseen creatures leave the path at my 
 approach. 
 
 A pale moth seeks a white and fragrant flower, 
 and tiny insects spin fine, humming threads of 
 song. 
 
 I hush my thoughts to hear the whisper of 
 the bending trees. 
 
 I SEEK the secrets of another night. 
 
 There is no cloud and all the star-hung space 
 above the world is unobscured. The earth's deep 
 silence merges in the deeper silence of the stars. 
 
 Far in the north a great light pales and flames, 
 as if a strange new sun were forming from the 
 chaos of the sky. The great light shifts and 
 wavers as a melody on strings of vast and sound- 
 less harps. 
 
 The silence and the cold intensify; there is a 
 moment when the tide of life in tender plants is 
 checked. 
 
 Morning will find the meadow white with frost. 
 
 As messengers of grave import In a joyous 
 assemblage, hiding their tidings until the revel 
 
 36 
 
THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
 is past, SO are the asters and the golden-rod 
 among the flowers of spring. 
 
 Men's eyes are concerned with the wind- 
 flower and the violet. They do not see, beyond 
 their delicate, fair beauty, the stout and stable 
 stalks of those that wait. 
 
 The spring blossoms wither and are gone. 
 The flowers of summer unfold and fold again 
 in fruit. The brightness of tree and grass grows 
 dim. 
 
 Then, on banners of gold and purple, the 
 tidings of the messengers flame forth, and men 
 read their meaning. 
 
 Into the waters of night are poured, from vials 
 of bright light, the waters of the day. 
 
 The waters of night and day are mingled until 
 the darkness is submerged in light. 
 
 Above the western mountains grows a sky of 
 tender blue, flecked with the pink of morning cloud. 
 
 It is a sky of spring and underneath I look for 
 the green of fresh, young forest leaves. 
 
 I see, amid dark firs, the orange-scarlet ol the 
 maple, and the amber-purple touched with crimson 
 of the ash. 
 
 It is midday but there is no sun. The clouds 
 are heavy and autumn rain is faUing. 
 
 37 
 
QUESTS 
 
 Into the dusk of my room a light shines. It 
 is the light of an ash tree which stands just with- 
 out. With the paling green of its leaves gold 
 and amber are mingled. 
 
 The light of the tree is fainter than moonlight 
 and softer than the light of stars. It pierces 
 with the sharpness of a sword and envelops me 
 with the tenderness of a cloud. 
 
 It is the light of the spirit of the tree which 
 comes to me through the autumn rain. 
 
 It is the hour of sunset, but there is no bright- 
 ness in the sky. Across the pall of gray, clouds 
 of darker gray are drifting. 
 
 As I sit by the fire a sudden glow is in the 
 room. From the window I can see no break 
 in the dull sky; the glow is from far beyond. 
 It penetrates the heavy clouds and lights them 
 as with the memory of past sunsets. It is as a 
 brief return to dying eyes of the life that has been. 
 
 The moment passes. I think I have dreamed 
 of the light so dark are the clouds. 
 
 The sun has set. 
 
 The clouds were heavy and the rain fell many 
 days. When the sun shone out men said. How 
 heavy have been the clouds and how long the 
 rain. 
 
 38 
 
THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
 I said, Hear the roar of the full streams as 
 they carry the water to the sea. 
 
 The glory of the leaves Is brought to earth. 
 
 The gold of elm, the shining brown of beech, 
 the orange-scarlet of the maple, and the amber- 
 purple of the ash, are all laid low. 
 
 Loosened by frost, flung high by winds as 
 bright birds on the tides of air, dropped slowly 
 through the warm, still days, descending in 
 swift clouds when helped by rain, they reach at 
 last their resting-place, merging their separate 
 lives in drifts of somber brown. 
 
 Above the drifted leaves flit passing birds, 
 their thin and silvery notes faint echoes of their 
 joyous songs of spring. 
 
 It is late October; the aisles of the forest are open 
 to my sight and between the naked boughs I 
 see the sky. 
 
 The forest is a house from which the dwellers 
 have fled, leaving open the doors that the passer- 
 by may look within. 
 
 Men say, The beauty of the forest has vanished 
 and its secrets are told; let us go away. 
 
 I go with them a little distance and return 
 alone. The forest is cool and silent; above the 
 fallen leaves the greenness of a hardy fern per- 
 
 39 
 
QUESTS 
 
 sists. A pale moth flutters in the chill air and 
 vanishes, uncertain of its fate. 
 
 Where is the beauty of the forest which has 
 departed but shall return? 
 
 What are its secrets that have been told yet 
 remain undisclosed? 
 
 The full moon is rising above the woods beyond 
 the swamp. It is a vast, pale eye overlooking 
 the world. 
 
 The moon looks upon the bare branches of 
 the maples and upon the dark twigs and white 
 trunks of the birches. It shines upon the myriad 
 yellow needles of the tamaracks and upon the 
 aged pines. 
 
 The pale, cold eye looks into the swamp where 
 have blossomed the rosy lady's slipper and the 
 fragrant orchid of the bog, where the iris un- 
 folded its blue petals and the cotton grass shook 
 out its white tufts. 
 
 The cold eye sees only the covering of brown 
 and gray beneath which the swamp sleeps with 
 its store of dreams. 
 
 Thou preparest the world for Thy snow. 
 
 The flowers are done with blooming and their 
 seeds await the winds of winter to scatter them 
 
 40 
 
THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
 abroad. The leaves have finished their work and 
 lie brown and sodden upon the faded grass. 
 
 The cricket has ceased its chirping and the 
 frog has buried itself in the mud of the pool. 
 The eggs of the butterfly are laid and the spider 
 has spun for herself a shelter. 
 
 Thou hast banished the birds and given rest 
 to the trees, and above Thy finished task of the 
 year Thou wilt lay a covering of white. 
 
 I LEFT the shelter and comfort of my house and 
 went out to meet the November day. 
 
 The breath of the day was from the south 
 but there was in it no warmth or tenderness. 
 The eyes of the day were heavy with a grief which 
 finds no relief. The heart of the day was cold 
 with a woe which bears no fruit save bitterness 
 and desolation. 
 
 The mood of the day possessed me and I 
 walked with bent head and unheeding eyes. 
 
 I had gone far when I felt upon my garments 
 light touches as of gentle fingers. The breath of 
 the day was warm and quiet about me and the 
 woe of its heart had lightened. 
 
 From the eyes of the day were falling pure 
 and beautiful tears which whitened the ground 
 and the trees. 
 
 41 
 
QUESTS 
 
 There are many graves by the roadside as I 
 pass, and hands I can not see are busy covering 
 the dead. 
 
 The clods which fill the graves are light and 
 white, and their fall is with gentleness and peace. 
 
 There is no sorrow in my heart for the myriad 
 dead, and no horror of those brown and withered 
 forms. 
 
 I lift one in my hand. It is the body of a 
 fern from which the greenness has passed away. 
 I lay it with its fellows that the invisible hands 
 may hide it from sight. 
 
 I AM alone in the cloister of the falling snow. 
 
 The walls that encompass me are miles in 
 thickness, and though the roof touches my head 
 it reaches to the clouds. 
 
 I am shut in from cities and from towns, 
 from houses and from temples. I am separated 
 from every living thing, from bird and animal 
 and human kind. The sun and the moon and 
 stars I can not see. 
 
 There is no door nor window and no opening 
 to the sky. The walls scarce give me space to 
 stand; they press softly against my body. The 
 beams of the roof rest upon my head and when 
 I bow in prayer they descend upon me. 
 
 I am alone in the cloister of the falling snow. 
 
 42 
 
THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
 In the fresh, light-lying snow are many trails. 
 
 There are trails that end at the foot of trees 
 and trails that stop at the great rocks. Some 
 lead to the woods and some are lost to sight in 
 the wide fields. 
 
 There are tiny trails entering tunnels in the 
 snow and short trails that are as if dropped from 
 the clouds. 
 
 Wise folk know the trail of the fox and of 
 the hare, of the squirrel and the mouse. 
 
 I know they are the tracks of beautiful, wild 
 creatures who share the earth with men. 
 
 \ 
 
 The whiteness of ivory and of marble, the 
 whiteness of a pearl and the whiteness of a cloud 
 are not as the whiteness of snow. 
 
 Purer than all other purity, whiter than all 
 other whiteness, it rests upon the breadth of the 
 fields and the slope of the hills, and the utmost 
 shining of the sun avails not against it. 
 
 From the tiny flakes are flung upward a million 
 mocking glances at the impotent sun. 
 
 In the curve of a drift the light is cold and blue, 
 but when the sun is sinking and shines with 
 level, kindly rays, the curve of the drift is aglow 
 with warm and golden light. 
 
 43 
 
QUESTS 
 
 Noon, and a high, far sky of dazzling blue above 
 a world of dazzling white. 
 
 Earth has no refuge and no hiding-place from 
 the vast space, the deepening cold, the pitiless 
 scrutiny of the sun. 
 
 I turn and on the whiteness of a western hill 
 I see the shadow of a cloud, a near and tender, 
 soft and gentle cloud. 
 
 The shadow on the western hill is as the 
 shadow of a living and a gracious hand in the 
 impersonal, unfeeling, and unbounded space. 
 
 The sun has left the valley and rests with kind 
 radiance upon the snowy hill-tops. 
 
 In the valley the blue light deepens and the 
 shadows of the trees are lost in the shadow of 
 the hills. 
 
 The cold, dark brook moves swiftly between 
 ice-bordered banks, coating the bending twigs 
 with its frozen breath. 
 
 Above the quick-flowing waters alders have 
 hung their brown jewels, but the stream hastens 
 on, unheeding their enticement. 
 
 Black spruce and pine are in the clear blue 
 north, and delicate twigs of leafless trees are 
 etched against the glowing western sky. 
 
 44 
 
THE QUEST OF NATURE 
 
 In the deep vault above, Orion and great 
 Sirius wait the sun's going to glorify the winter 
 night. 
 
 The winter night is cold and still. Long shad- 
 ows of the trees rest on the moon-whitened earth 
 and a thousand little twinkling lights flash up- 
 ward from the snow. 
 
 As I move forward the thousand lights go 
 out and a thousand more flash forth. 
 
 The twinkling lights are a thousand messages 
 from the absent sun sent by way of the moon. 
 
 In the winter wind are many voices. 
 
 There is the soft sigh of weariness, the fitful 
 sigh of restlessness, and the long sigh of the 
 grief-stricken whose tears are past. 
 
 There is the low moan of pain and the shriek 
 of agony; the dreary cry of the heart-broken and 
 the wild cry of him whose reason is fled. There is 
 the laughter of the scornful and the mockery 
 of those who deride. There is the wail of a hurt 
 child and the wail of a woman in travail. 
 
 In the winter wind are the voices of all cruel- 
 ties and all pain, of all losses and all sorrow. 
 
 When the fierce gale comes from the north, 
 the sighing and the moaning, the shrieking and 
 
 45 
 
QUESTS 
 
 the wailing cease before the strong and mighty- 
 breath of the Lord. 
 
 What moment do the dreams of sleeping things 
 turn from the summer past, to that which is to 
 come ? 
 
 When the wind is warm and the sun shines 
 from high in the heavens, is it known beneath 
 the snow? 
 
 There is no sign. The wood is silent. Bending 
 low I hear no sound and feel no breath. 
 
 When do the dreams of sleeping creatures 
 turn toward spring? 
 
 46 
 
Ill 
 
 THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 If one says, I will seek Truth, shall he turn back? 
 
 If the path leads where he has not foreseen, 
 shall he be confounded? If there Is danger, shall 
 he cower? If there Is darkness, shall he be afraid? 
 
 If men cry, Not there, not there, shall he re- 
 trace his way ? If that which was new and beauti- 
 ful yesterday shall today be old and unlovely, 
 shall he desist? 
 
 If he is led where he does not desire, shall he 
 be dismayed? 
 
 If the goal is ever afar off, shall he cease from 
 seeking? 
 
 I WILL not turn aside from the path that leads 
 to my beloved. I will not heed the voices 
 bidding me linger and seek other paths. 
 
 Fair are these paths; they offer beauty of 
 flower and solace of shade. They are not devious. 
 They lead not In steep ways where the limbs 
 weary and the brain grows dizzy. 
 
 The goal of these paths Is soon reached. I 
 would go farther than their ending. My strength 
 is greater than their distance and my hope wider 
 than their opportunity. 
 
 49 
 
QUESTS 
 
 My strength wanes, but renews itself. My 
 hope dims, but it flames again. My strength 
 does not lose itself in weakness nor my hope in 
 disappointment. 
 
 My strength and my hope are boundless. I 
 have chosen a path worthy of their use. 
 
 What is the union of love? 
 
 I desire thy body only that I may possess thy 
 spirit. 
 
 I desire thy spirit only that I may possess the 
 infinite Spirit. 
 
 The desire of every creature is toward the 
 Eternal. 
 
 All things were in my soul, but I could not find 
 them. The burden of unfound things was heavy, 
 and keen the hunger for the unknown. 
 
 I traveled the road of thought as far as men 
 had gone. By the roadside lay the treasures 
 they had found but they were not my treasures. 
 I took a step farther on the road of thought; I 
 strained the eyes of my soul beyond the eyes of 
 my mind. But that which I sought was not 
 revealed unto me. 
 
 I sought wise teachers and sat at the feet 
 of sages. I studied the great books of the 
 
 50 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 world and passed through the laboratories of 
 science. I inquired of the rock and the lichen, 
 and interrogated the wild creatures of earth and 
 air. I opened my mind to the stars and my soul 
 to invisible wisdom. 
 
 Still was the burden of unfound things heavy 
 and keen the hunger for the unknown. 
 
 Then Love came and we ran through the fields 
 like two children. The flowers held out their 
 secrets to us as we passed and at night the stars 
 divulged their mysteries. The history of the 
 world was disclosed to me and the book of life 
 lay open to my gaze. 
 
 The burden of the unfound was lifted and 
 the darkness of the unknown was filled with 
 promise. 
 
 The measure of my love is the measure of my 
 strength. So far as I love, so far am I strong, for 
 love overcomes weakness. 
 
 The measure of my love is the measure of 
 my Hght. So far as my love extends so far have 
 I light, for love banishes darkness. 
 
 The measure of my love is the measure of 
 my power. So far as I love so far am I powerful, 
 for nothing can withstand love. 
 
 The measure of my love is the measure of 
 my hope. So far as I love so far do I hope, for 
 love discovers the secret grounds of hope. 
 
 51 
 
QUESTS 
 
 The measure of my love Is the measure of 
 my liberty. So far as I love so far am I free, 
 for love knows no bonds and freedom follows 
 close in her footsteps. 
 
 Sleep kept far from me and I stole out in the 
 darkness that I might be near my beloved. 
 
 I passed through the shadowy trees until 
 the light from her window shone upon me. I 
 did not knock at her door. I was fearful of 
 her displeasure, for she does not long for me, 
 and my love is greater than hers. 
 
 In the light of her window I stood until her 
 shadow darkened the light. The shadow of 
 my love quieted my heart. 
 
 I traveled the dusty road and saw in the 
 dust the footprints of my beloved. I might 
 not walk beside her, but in the sand of the road 
 I left my footprints where her feet had passed. 
 
 A Voice saith unto me: Why seekest thou 
 the light of a single window, which shineth but 
 for an hour and is then put out.'* Why cherishest 
 thou the shadow of one who will shortly vanish, 
 leaving no shadow.? Why followest thou foot- 
 prints in the dust which the wind and rain will 
 destroy .f* 
 
 Behold, if thou seekest Me thou shalt have 
 light which never goeth out, and My shadow 
 will be ever upon thee. My footprints the rain 
 
 52 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 and wind will not hide. They shall be before 
 thee wherever thou goest. 
 
 My heart was set upon my love and the Voice 
 grew faint. 
 
 I WILL bathe my body, not with stagnant water 
 from the bowl, but with living water from the 
 ever-moving stream which renews itself at each 
 instant. 
 
 Thus shall no foulness retouch my body. The 
 foulness shall flow onward and lose itself. It shall 
 not be seen or felt. 
 
 Only the water which is fresh and clear shall 
 touch my flesh. 
 
 No stain of yesterday's garments shall be 
 upon me. I will clothe my body with the fresh 
 garments of today. 
 
 The swathings and wrappings of yesterday 
 shall be left behind; they shall no more protect 
 or encumber me. 
 
 There shall be for the new day clothing of 
 white linen and of fine silk fresh from the loom. 
 The smell of the flax and of the mulberry shall 
 be upon it. In Its texture will be the lightness 
 of the breeze and the warmth of the sun. The 
 softness of summer rain will dwell In its meshes 
 and the light of stars and the strength of the 
 earth be woven with its threads. 
 
 S3 
 
QUESTS 
 
 The water of my bath shall be fresh and the 
 cloth of my garments new when I make ready to 
 seek my beloved. 
 
 I SAID, My beloved is far from me. More than 
 the distance of a world divides us and in a life- 
 time I may not find her. 
 
 Then is my beloved beside me. The benignity 
 and calm of her presence are upon me. 
 
 I turn that I may see her face and greater 
 than the distance of a world divides us. 
 
 I said, I will hasten. The wings of a bird 
 shall be mine. As the speed of the eagle so shall 
 my flight be. 
 
 Yet I can not overtake my beloved. 
 
 The winds become my steeds. Swifter than 
 the cloud's flight is my going. 
 
 When I arrive my beloved is not there. 
 
 The speed of thought becomes mine. There 
 is no time between my going and arriving. 
 
 As far as in the beginning, so far am I still 
 from my beloved. 
 
 I AM weary. I will no longer seek my love. 
 
 The wide, soft wings of darkness fold them- 
 selves about me. I will hide my eyes in the 
 feathers of the wings, and the lights of the world 
 
 54 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 will vanish and the light of the stars and of the 
 moon be shut out. 
 
 The long, deep wings of silence encompass 
 me. They cover my ears and I no longer hear 
 the noises of the world or the far off music of 
 the stars. 
 
 In the darkness and silence I will rest and 
 forget the search for my beloved. I will sleep. 
 
 The wings of darkness stir; they part that light 
 may enter. 
 
 The wings of silence move; they lift that sound 
 may come in. 
 
 There is still no light and no sound. It is 
 darker than midnight and more silent than the 
 hours that follow. The darkness and the silence 
 wait on the dawn. 
 
 I can not discern the coming of dawn. Dark- 
 ness fades and disappears. Light adds itself 
 to light and I know only the sum thereof. Silence 
 is past; sounds of morning are in the air. 
 
 Brighter than sunlight is the face of my be- 
 loved. Sweeter than the song of birds is the 
 sound of her voice bidding me follow her call. 
 
 Today thou art my friend and we will walk a 
 little way together. 
 
 55 
 
QUESTS 
 
 Between us is the fresh green grass where the 
 morning dew lingers and delicate flowers are 
 blooming. 
 
 Our feet shall keep to the paths that we may 
 not brush the dew from the grass or crush the 
 delicate flowers. 
 
 In the morning of this beautiful day we will 
 walk a little way together. 
 
 Let an unspoken word be between us. There 
 are no words so binding as those which are not 
 spoken. 
 
 Let an unperformed act be before us. There 
 are no acts so alluring as those which are unper- 
 formed. 
 
 Let an untrodden way be ever beyond us. 
 There are no ways so beautiful as those which 
 are untrodden. 
 
 I WOULD tell thee of my deep sadness, but when I 
 am with thee I have no sadness and am only glad. 
 
 I would tell thee of my great loneliness, but 
 when I am with thee I know not that loneliness 
 is in the world. 
 
 I would tell thee of my tender longing, but 
 when thou art near I have no longing and am 
 satisfied. 
 
 S6 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 There came another night when I went forth 
 to be near my love. Cassiopeia was at the 
 zenith and the stars rising in the east were not 
 the stars of summer. 
 
 The screen of leaves which had hidden from 
 me my love's window had fallen, but through 
 the net-work of bare twigs I saw no light. 
 
 I went near and called, but there was no answer. 
 I knocked and no one came. I looked in at the 
 window; there was light, but it fell from without. 
 There was a shadow, but it was the shadow of 
 myself in pale moonlight on the floor. 
 
 I laid my hand on the house. It was cold. 
 I knelt upon the doorstone and pressed my lips 
 to the sill where steps last passed outward. It 
 was as the mouth of the dead where there is no 
 breath. 
 
 The dead, cold moon in the sky above was not 
 more dead and cold than the house where my 
 love had been. 
 
 I CAN not find my love. The birds which have 
 sung of her loveliness are far away, and the leaves 
 which whispered her name have fallen. 
 
 The wind blows cold from the north and there 
 is no witness of her on the earth. 
 
 57 
 
QUESTS 
 
 Where may I find thee, my love? The win- 
 dows of thy house are dark and the walls are 
 cold. 
 
 The snow has blotted out thy footprints in 
 the road and there are no footprints in the snow. 
 
 Where shall I search for thee? Speak softly 
 but a single word and though thou art a thou- 
 sand miles away, the word will reach my ears. 
 
 They asked me. What is the name of thy love 
 and where does she dwell? Who are her father 
 and her mother, and has she a sister and a brother? 
 Tell us the age of thy love, and the color of her 
 eyes and of her hair. Does she tend a garden, 
 or sweep a room, or study a book? 
 
 I was silent, for I could tell them none of these 
 things. 
 
 They laughed in scorn and said, His love is 
 no more known to him than to us. He has no 
 love. 
 
 Then I went apart and was sorrowful, for 
 their doubt was a keen sword in my heart. 
 
 Presently I returned and asked of them. Is 
 the presence of my love known to you when 
 she is absent? Do her eyes speak to you when 
 her lips are silent? Is the touch of her hand 
 as the alighting of a wild bird upon thy shoulder, 
 and the glance of her eyes as stars in the night 
 sky? Do the winds bring tidings of her and is 
 
 58 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 the descent of her spirit upon thine as the fall 
 of warm rain on the dry earth? Is the remem- 
 brance of her as deep rest at the moment of 
 terrible weariness, and the presence of her spirit 
 a spur to swift and unending action? When 
 she is with thee is the world no larger than thy 
 meeting place, and when she departs dost thou 
 know infinite space? 
 
 They went away in silence for they could tell 
 me none of these things. 
 
 Yesterday my love became woman. She stood 
 in a field gathering crimson berries. The wild 
 bushes were higher than her head and white 
 clematis grew upon them as upon a trellis. 
 
 The fruit had stained the woman's lips and 
 fingers, and a single crimson blot was on the 
 whiteness of her gown. Her eyes were blue as 
 the chicory growing in the field, and in her dark 
 hair she had twined a vine of the wild clematis. 
 
 She was young, and when she offered me a 
 handful of the crimson fruit her hand trembled, 
 and her eyes withdrew their gaze from mine. 
 
 With eagerness I ran forward to eat of the 
 fruit and attain wisdom and understanding. 
 
 In the shadow of the high, wild bushes we ate 
 the crimson fruit. 
 
 When I was alone the vine of wild clematis 
 lay on the ground, limp and broken. The sky 
 
 59 
 
QUESTS 
 
 had grayed and the wind was cold. Wisdom 
 had not enlightened me nor had life unveiled 
 its secret. 
 
 Weary and disheartened I lay in the field, 
 until, far in the night, I heard the calm, chaste 
 voice of my love calling me from afar. 
 
 The heart of my love is like a great book. I 
 hold it in my hand and count the pages. I say, 
 It is long, but I can read it to the end; it is deep, 
 but I can understand its meaning and penetrate 
 the depth of its wisdom. 
 
 Lo! when I have read half its pages the number 
 still to be read has not grown less, and when 
 I have reached the end it is as the beginning. 
 
 That which I have understood is but a sen- 
 tence from the foreword, and my penetration 
 has gone no deeper than the leather of its binding. 
 
 I WAIT long to reach thy heart. 
 
 I wait as the sun waits for the unfolding of a 
 rose. 
 
 I wait as the sun waited for the unfolding of 
 the first flower upon earth. 
 
 I wait with the patience and faith of the sun 
 which knows its shining will unfold all flowers. 
 
 60 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 Will there be an end of my thoughts concern- 
 ing thee? 
 
 When I have given words to all my thoughts, 
 I say, I shall have no more; the fount of my mind 
 is dry. 
 
 When I awake in the morning my mind is 
 filled with new thoughts. 
 
 As a spring that has been drained renews itself 
 by night and fills with fresh water, so is my mind 
 renewed by night and filled with fresh thoughts 
 of thee. 
 
 I ASK not. What if I had not known thee.^ 
 
 As well question the breeze. What if thou 
 
 hadst not stirred the leaves.? and the flower. What 
 
 if thy sweetness had not drawn the bee.^* 
 
 As well ask of the sun, What if thy warmth 
 
 had never touched the earth, nor thy light 
 
 opened men's eyes.? 
 
 We part at night as familiar friends. The clasp 
 of thy hand is close and tender and thine eyes 
 are near and kind. 
 
 In the morning thou comest to me as from a 
 far country. 
 
 6i 
 
QUESTS 
 
 Thy gaze is withdrawn as that of one who has 
 beheld a great mystery, and the tones of thy 
 voice are deep with the memory of experiences 
 not to be disclosed. 
 
 In the morning I know thee not. 
 
 No, I will not return, not for a word or touch 
 of hand or lips. 
 
 We said good-night and though we stood 
 apart, heaven was revealed to me within thine 
 eyes as thy sweet soul bent from its height to 
 mine. 
 
 No, I will not return, lest I should find thee 
 less, and for a word, or touch of hand and lips, 
 lose the abiding of thy soul in mine. 
 
 I WAKE at night breathless with thy presence. 
 Thine eyes are far off as stars. Thy soul is 
 near as darkness, and thy hand is on my heart. 
 
 I DARE not call thee by thy name. They speak 
 thy name and thou turnest to right and left to 
 meet their smiles and words. Thou answerest 
 one and another according to their asking, and 
 art many women in the space of a day. 
 
 If I should speak thy name but once thy masks 
 and shields would drop. A self that men have 
 
 62 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 never seen would look from out thine eyes, and 
 even I who called would fall back in amaze and 
 awe. 
 
 I dare not speak thy name, lest calling, I 
 draw the spirit from out thy body and they call 
 thee dead. 
 
 I WILL not speak thy name in the cities and the 
 towns. I will not profane thy name in the 
 crowded and noisy places of earth. 
 
 I will speak thy name in the open country, 
 in the silent woods and on the hill-side. 
 
 The sky and the mountains will receive thy 
 name, and the grass and trees will under- 
 stand. 
 
 I will speak thy name, and the birds will 
 listen and the flowers nod in the breeze. 
 
 I will speak thy name and all that is beautiful 
 will hear and make reply. 
 
 I STAND alone at the gate of the field as the light 
 of the moon grows brighter and the evening 
 wind rises. 
 
 The noises of the night are about me; I hear 
 the song of the pines and the long surge of the 
 forest leaves like the surge of the sea. The 
 little leaves of the poplar rustle and a dying leaf 
 falls and is still. 
 
 63 
 
QUESTS 
 
 The noises of the night grow louder and die 
 away; they rise and sink into quietness. 
 
 I Hsten to hear, beyond the sounds of the night, 
 another sound. It is swift and Hght and is afar 
 off. It draws near and does not die away. It 
 is the sound of thy footsteps bringing thee 
 to me. 
 
 I WILL seek my love at morning when the heavi- 
 ness of sleep lingers in her eyes as night-shadows 
 in the forest where birds are singing and the 
 ferns are wet with dew. 
 
 I will seek her at noon when the full stream of 
 tasks flows about her and I can not find her 
 spirit for the multitude of her thoughts. 
 
 I will go to her at eventide when her eyes are 
 on the sunset and her thoughts return to me. 
 
 I will be near her at night when her lips and 
 her thoughts are silent and only her spirit is 
 awake to meet mine in the darkness. 
 
 They have lighted the lamp and closed the outer 
 door. They have made in the sea of darkness a 
 tiny island of light and in the ocean of night a 
 dry place above the waters. 
 
 The window of thy chamber is open and the 
 cool night air receives thy breath. The darkness 
 which hides from me the road and the wall be- 
 
 64 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 yond, touches thine eyelids and rests upon thy lips. 
 Thy spirit flows out and mingles with the night. 
 They have lighted the lamp and closed the 
 outer door. They have made In the ocean of 
 thy presence a little space where thou are not. 
 
 How shall I reach thee? 
 
 Though I overtake thee at last and hold thee 
 in my arms, though I break down the wall of thy 
 flesh and enter the temple of thy body, still 
 have I not reached thee. 
 
 There Is no light In the temple and no fire on 
 the altar. Thou art not there. 
 
 The music which I heard from without is 
 silenced and the sweetness of incense has died 
 on the air. 
 
 Verily, the seeking of thy soul is a long quest. 
 
 I WILL find a secret path to thy heart. 
 
 I will not take the highway where many 
 travelers move toward the goal. The hands of 
 the travelers are filled with tributes and the 
 eyes of each gaze unkindly upon his fellows. 
 
 I will not mingle with those who openly seek 
 thy heart. 
 
 I will find a little hidden path which even thou 
 canst not see. Thou wilt not hear the sound of 
 my footsteps or catch a glimpse of my form, but 
 one day before thou hast dreamed of my coming 
 thou wilt find me in thy heart. 
 
 6s 
 
QUESTS 
 
 The way is long to thy heart. The way is as 
 long as to the farthest land. It is as long as to 
 the farthest star. 
 
 If it were not thy heart which I seek I should 
 be weary; my feet would falter and my courage 
 fail. 
 
 The greatness of my hope upholds me, for it 
 is thy heart which I seek. 
 
 I KNOW thou hast passed this way for the wind 
 is warm and gentle as soft hands upon my 
 face. 
 
 I know thou hast passed this way for the brook 
 is singing a low song caught from thy voice. 
 
 I know thou hast passed this way for the shade 
 of young leaves upon the ground is restful as 
 thy presence. 
 
 I know thou hast passed this way for where 
 thy feet have pressed white violets are opening. 
 
 It is a little path in the wood. Sunlight drops 
 among the leaves, and ferns brush my garments 
 as I pass. A bird flies low across my way, and a 
 wild flower holds out its beauty. 
 
 It is a little path in the wood, and it leads to 
 thee. 
 
 66 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 It Is a wide street In a great city. Numberless 
 feet pass that way and the roll of wheels Is un- 
 ceasing. The business of a world is transacted 
 along its borders, and from it men depart for 
 far lands by way of the sea. 
 
 It is a wide street in a great city, and It leads 
 to thee. 
 
 It is a way I do not know. I can not tell if 
 it is wide or narrow, leading east or northward, 
 into darkness or to light. All feet shall pass 
 that way and cries of lamentation are heard at 
 Its entrance. 
 
 It is an unknown way, but I know it leads to 
 thee. 
 
 Thou hast many hopes. One hope thou hast 
 not, the hope of seeing thee. 
 
 Thou hast many blessings. One blessing thou 
 hast not, the blessing of knowing thee. 
 
 Thou hast many joys. One joy thou hast 
 not, the joy of loving thee. 
 
 I DID not know thee in thy childhood, but I 
 know thy childhood was fair and beautiful. 
 
 Thy future is hidden even from thyself, but 
 I know thy future will be fair and beautiful. 
 
 I see thee for a moment, and in that moment 
 I discern thy childhood and thine Immortality. 
 
 67 
 
QUESTS 
 
 Smile, my loved one, for If thou dost not smile 
 the faces of the flowers are dull and the sun's 
 light grows dim. 
 
 Be kind, for If thy kindness fails the whole 
 great world is alien and kindness itself no longer 
 lives. 
 
 Draw near, my love, for If thou drawest not 
 near, though earth crowds close, I am alone as 
 in the empty space beyond the stars. 
 
 Thy words are beautiful and gracious, and the 
 touch of thy hand is tender and kind. 
 
 Let thy lips be silent that thy heart may 
 speak to me. Withhold thy hand that thy soul 
 may move toward mine. 
 
 If thy heart speaks but a simple word, and 
 thy soul but turns toward mine, I shall be 
 content. 
 
 My love, thou hast gone with me but a little 
 way, yet thou hast opened to me the path which 
 has no ending. 
 
 Of thy store of knowledge thou hast imparted 
 to me but a handful, yet thou hast led me to the 
 verge of infinite wisdom. 
 
 68 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 Thou hast bestowed upon me but a fraction 
 of thy love, yet thou hast brought me to the 
 unmeasured tenderness beyond thyself. 
 
 As a smouldering log breaks into clear flame at 
 a breath of wind, so my heart has broken into a 
 bright flame of love at thine approach. 
 
 The music of my life was harsh and discordant 
 until the noble music of thy life fell upon my ear. 
 Then the discord of my life resolved to deep 
 harmony. 
 
 The waters of my life were muddy and tur- 
 bulent until they reached the clear stream of 
 thy life. Then the waters of my life were puri- 
 fied and calmed. 
 
 My heart is as a harp which thou, the wind, in 
 passing, played upon, and left with heavenly 
 melody vibrant on its strings. 
 
 My beloved, thou art greater than thyself. 
 
 Thy self is very little. It moves about in a 
 small space and is wearied with little tasks. It 
 laughs at simple things and wastes its words upon 
 trifles. It is bounded by the walls of a house and 
 is the servant of a day. 
 
 Thy soul is very great. It inhabits large 
 spaces and is at leisure from the labor of the 
 world. It is untouched in the midst of dis- 
 tractions and its smile is for serene and beautiful 
 
 69 
 
QUESTS 
 
 things. The walls of a house do not contain it 
 and it knows not days nor years. 
 
 Thy soul is greater than thy self, my beloved. 
 
 My love, thou hast many dwelling-places, for 
 thou hast wandered far over the earth and made 
 thine abode in many hearts. 
 
 There are dwelling-places as the tents of a 
 night, and wayside houses of rest and refresh- 
 ment where thou hast paused for an hour. 
 
 There are great and rugged castles whose lords 
 are gracious unto thee, and homes of little children 
 where thou hast played in the sunshine. 
 
 There are dim and lonely dwellings where 
 thou hast let in light, and houses of mirth and 
 gladness where thou art joyful and light of heart. 
 
 There are dwelling-places which will shelter 
 thee all the days of thy life on earth, and abodes 
 whose outer hall thou canst not pass. 
 
 Thine abode in my life is invisible and unknown 
 of men. It will endure beyond earth and time. 
 
 The measure of my love thou canst not know. 
 
 As the sand upon the shore receives a wave of 
 the mighty sea, so receivest thou my love. 
 
 As a little plant stands in the full glory of the 
 sun and takes of light and heat according to its 
 need, so takest thou my love. The plant will 
 die and the glory of the sun fall upon its withered 
 
 70 
 
THE QUEST OF LOVE 
 
 Stalk. The sun shall one day shine upon the 
 place where it has been. 
 
 Thou canst not make return. Though thou 
 yieldest mind, body, breath, and soul, still dost 
 thou not return my love. 
 
 Only the Power beyond thyself can make re- 
 turn. 
 
 Strange and marvelous is the power given into 
 thy keeping. 
 
 There is no fence about the wide prairie, but 
 thou art a little gate opening into its vastness. 
 
 The mighty ocean bears the ships of the 
 world, but thou, in the midst of the sea, art a 
 little stream bearing my ship. 
 
 The brightness of the sun illumines the whole 
 earth, but thou, in the midst of the brightness, 
 art a little candle enabling me to see the light. 
 
 Thou art enthroned within my life beyond the 
 reach of praise or blame. No word of all that 
 men may say reaches the high and sacred place 
 wherein thou art enshrined. 
 
 Though they shout with adulation, thou art 
 not greater in my eyes. Though they utter 
 imprecations, yet art thou not less to me. 
 
 Fair and beautiful is thy life within my soul. 
 I look up to thee as to mountain summits whose 
 
 71 
 
QUESTS 
 
 whiteness the heat and defilement of earth may 
 not touch. 
 
 The hght of the full moon shines upon the wall 
 and the room is filled with soft radiance. 
 
 Hours pass and the Hght on the wall grows 
 dim. The light of the moon is not overtaken 
 by darkness, but by a greater light. It. is the 
 dawn of day and all the wall is light. 
 
 The light of thy life shines on the wall of my 
 soul and my soul is filled with its brightness. 
 
 Years pass and the light of thy life grows dim. 
 There is a moment when it merges in the light 
 of a vaster Life and I can not tell the one from 
 the other. 
 
 The greater light waxes and I know that the 
 glory of thy life was the reflection of a greater 
 glory beyond thyself. 
 
 I KNOW not where the outer boundaries of thy 
 life are set. 
 
 Shoreward a wall is built about thy self that 
 thy fellows may not pass. Outward and sea- 
 ward no bounds are visible. Thy being merges 
 in the vaster being, and the light of stars sends 
 back thy glance. 
 
 Thy low voice is mingled with the call of the 
 Eternal, and the journey toward the infinite 
 goal is a journey toward thyself. 
 
 72 
 
IV 
 THE QUEST OF LIFE 
 
THE QUEST OF LIFE 
 
 Great is the mystery of woman. From her 
 body comei forth the generations of men, and 
 to the Hfe of earth there is no other entrance. 
 
 Tree and plant bring forth after their kind, 
 and bird and animal bear according to their 
 nature. The woman brings forth after her kind; 
 but through the open door there enters, with the 
 flesh and blood, the unforeseen and unknown. 
 
 The soul of man slips in with the body, and 
 the door may give entrance to a greater guest. 
 
 Is the Issue of my body but a single life.^ Is 
 the fruit of my travail but one puny man.? Shall 
 my desire attain but this slight end? 
 
 I am the earth mother. All that has life I 
 bear. 
 
 I am pregnant with the life of seeds; with the 
 life of the seed of grass and the seed of the great 
 oak, with the life of the little spores of moss and 
 fern, and the fine seed of the orchid. 
 
 The gnat and the spider I bear, and the lizard 
 and toad are my offspring. The life of the bird 
 and butterfly are in my womb and at my breasts 
 feed the wolf and the lion. I give suck to the 
 whale, and the deer and elephant I nourish. 
 
 75 
 
QUESTS 
 
 The generations of men are in my keeping, 
 for I am the door to the life of the world. 
 
 I AWAIT the moment when my beloved shall 
 say to me, Let us go out alone, together, in the 
 night. 
 
 For this was I born. The years of my life 
 have brought me to this hour. They depart 
 from my presence as servants which have finished 
 their work. Henceforth I live beyond the years. 
 
 The sum of the desire of all living things does 
 not exceed my desire for thee, my beloved. The 
 trees make of the winds their messengers and the 
 flowers send forth the bee and the butterfly on 
 their errands of love. The fluttering moth 
 draws her mate from afar, and the wild beast 
 calls in the forest. Man lays at the feet of his 
 love a crown and a kingdom, and woman follows 
 her desire though the high plains resound with 
 the battle-din of vast armies. 
 
 Ocean calls to river, and star and sun yield 
 to their bonds across unlighted space. 
 
 So great is my desire for thee, my beloved. 
 
 The stream of life breaks against its barriers. 
 I await thy coming that the gates of my body 
 may be opened for the passing of the stream of 
 life. 
 
 The stream is deep and mighty. It bears upon 
 its waters the bodies and souls of coming men. 
 
 76 
 
THE QUEST OF LIFE 
 
 The place of its rising is secret and the goal of its 
 waters hidden. The sound of its flowing is 
 sweet to my ears. In it is all the music of the 
 earth. The brightness of its waters gladdens 
 my eyes. In them is all the beauty of the world. 
 I await thy coming, my beloved, that the 
 gates of my body may be opened for the passing 
 of the stream of life. 
 
 I WAITED for my love upon the mountain summit 
 where the lone bird calls and the distant peak 
 draws near in the clear air. 
 
 I lay in a hollow of the rock where the rain and 
 sun had brought forth the lichen and the white 
 sandwort blossomed alone. 
 
 My love came from the east and the light of 
 the morning star and of the rising sun was upon 
 him. Over a shining sea of white cloud he came. 
 The cloud filled the valley and hid the world 
 below. 
 
 The strong voice of my love summoned me 
 and I ran to meet him. When he laid his hand 
 upon me I was glad. His breath was on my face 
 as the mountain wind upon the fir trees, and the 
 mist rose and covered us until we were hidden 
 from the morning star and the rising sun. 
 
 Alone, upon the mountain summit, the bound- 
 aries of our lives were broken and we entered 
 into the life of the earth and of the heavens. 
 
 11 
 
QUESTS 
 
 No place was alien to us and no time unknown. 
 No life from the least to the greatest was a stranger 
 and the power which is without waning was 
 manifest unto us. 
 
 When we awakened the sun was high and 
 the mist had vanished. The naked world lay 
 below us. In the valley were tasks and task- 
 masters, and the dust of labor and the smoke 
 of battle rose toward the mountain summit. 
 
 That which I conceived upon the mountain will 
 descend to earth. 
 
 The Child is not to be of this world. He shall 
 come and go, and come again, as the light of the 
 sun. 
 
 Men will lift their eyes from their toil and be- 
 holding the beauty of his face, shall be joyful. 
 Children and the young in heart shall hasten 
 to greet him and the aged and the mourner will 
 stand no longer in the shadow of the grave. 
 
 The Child shall be to men as the bearer of 
 tidings from another world. 
 
 78 
 
V 
 
 THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
 Hath all been said of old? Hath all been re- 
 vealed? Is there aught more to be told con- 
 cerning the Ruler of the earth and the heavens? 
 
 Has Being gained In depth and height? Has 
 the Eternal enlarged His borders ? Has He gained 
 new attributes and power? 
 
 Shall the words that have been spoken of the 
 Eternal continually satisfy men? Has the voice 
 of Truth spoken and passed Into silence as the 
 voice of a bird whose time of singing Is past? 
 
 Shall men henceforth hear only the echo of 
 the voice of Truth? 
 
 Great words have been spoken of Thee, my God. 
 
 Thou art greater than all the words spoken of 
 Thee. 
 
 The imagination of man has pictured Thee in 
 the heavens, marvelous in power and wisdom. 
 
 Thy power and wisdom exceed the imagina- 
 tion of man. 
 
 The trust of man has gone out to Thee and 
 the faith of man Is In Thy keeping. 
 
 Thy worth and Thy faithfulness are beyond 
 the trust and faith of man. 
 
 8i 
 
QUESTS 
 
 So far as space exceeds the little space man 
 knows, so far dost Thou exceed man's thought 
 of Thee, my God. 
 
 Dost Thou uphold to the end? Is Thy mercy 
 upon them that serve the hour and the day, and 
 Thy care withdrawn from him who heeds a call 
 from beyond the present and the near? 
 
 Dost Thou confound the keen of ear and hun- 
 gry of soul, and bring to confusion him whose 
 eves are upon a far off goal? 
 
 Dost Thou prepare Thy servant as for an 
 arduous task, and give the task to another who 
 is to come? 
 
 Is my hope illusion and my vision Thy decep- 
 tion ? 
 
 Art Thou concerned with loss ? Art Thou pitiful ? 
 
 Dost Thou mourn the death of a man, or 
 sorrow at the maiming of a child? 
 
 Is the virtue of a woman Thy care, and the 
 integrity of a soul Thy regard? 
 
 Art Thou desolate at the burning of a city, 
 and cast down at the fall of a nation? 
 
 Thou who art All knoweth no loss. Thou who 
 art Life knoweth no death. Thou who art 
 Virtue knoweth no departure from virtue, and 
 Thou who art Upright knoweth no falling. 
 
 82 
 
THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
 Thou weepest not, neither dost Thou sorrow, 
 for from Thee nothing can be taken away, and 
 that which is Thine can not be destroyed. 
 
 A Voice came to me, saying: Speak my Word. 
 
 I answered, Thy Word is great and terrible. 
 It is too great for the men of earth; it will awe 
 and affright them. Hearing, they will leave 
 their tasks that they may listen, and the work 
 of the world will cease. 
 
 The Voice spoke, saying: Does the bird 
 cease its singing lest the clearness of its song 
 entrance men, or the flower withhold its fragrance 
 that they be not overpowered by its sweetness.'' 
 Does the lightning sheathe its sword or the wind 
 restrain its violence.^ Does the sun temper its 
 heat? Do the stars veil their light .^ 
 
 My Word shall visit the earth as the song of 
 birds and as the fragrance of a flower. It will 
 come as the shaft of lightning and as the mighty 
 wind. It will descend as the fierce heat of the 
 sun and fall as the faint light of stars. 
 
 Men heed the bird and the flower, and are 
 blind to their beauty. The lightning smites the 
 dead tree and the living flesh. The wind plays 
 with a blossom and lays low a city. The heat 
 of the sun unfolds a plant from the seed and 
 parches the grass of a field. The stars of night 
 console and they terrify. 
 
 83 
 
QUESTS 
 
 My Word shall weaken and strengthen men. 
 It will smite and heal; confound and enlight- 
 en; curse and bless. 
 
 Lo, my Word shall be heeded and it shall pass 
 unheard. It will smite the dead and the living; 
 it will build up and lay low. It will come with 
 playfulness and gentleness and approach with 
 terrible might. It will bestow life and bring to 
 death. It will console and terrify. 
 
 Men will turn from their labor that they may 
 listen. Some will return to their tasks and others 
 will forget their work and return no more. 
 
 In manifold ways will the world receive my 
 Word. 
 
 Speak thou as it is commanded thee. 
 
 I ASKED, What shall I say unto men.? Tell me 
 thy Word quickly that I may speak and the 
 world may hear. 
 
 I listened, but I heard only the wind as it 
 passed and when the wind was still, the song of a 
 little bird. 
 
 Again I cried. Speak unto me thy Word. 
 
 I listened, and I heard the tramping of many 
 feet and the murmur of many voices. I heard 
 sounds of joy and sounds of mourning; the call 
 to prayer and the battle-cry of nations at war. 
 
 Once more I cried, Give unto me thy Word 
 as thou hast promised. 
 
 84 
 
 { 
 
THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
 I listened and I heard no sound. The silence 
 grew until the silence itself was a Voice, and the 
 Voice spoke unto me. 
 
 I AM the Height above the height of aspiration 
 and the Depth below the depth of understand- 
 ing. 
 
 I am the Answer to the unanswerable, and the 
 Solution of the unsolvable. 
 
 I am the Goal beyond striving, and the End 
 beyond attainment. 
 
 I am the Thought beyond thinking, and the 
 Beauty beyond the manifestations of beauty. 
 
 I am the Light beyond darkness, and the 
 Darkness beyond light. 
 
 I am the Strength beyond weakness, and the 
 Wholeness beyond that which is broken. 
 
 I am the Purpose enclosing all purposes, and 
 the Effort including all efforts. 
 
 I am the End of all beginnings, and the Be- 
 ginning of all ends. 
 
 I am Old in the presence of the new, and New 
 in the presence of that which is old. 
 
 I am the Mystery beyond the known, and the 
 Truth beyond the unknown. 
 
 I am the Certainty beyond hope, and the Love 
 beyond yearning. 
 
 I am that which Is, beyond that which is 
 not. 
 
 85 
 
QUESTS 
 
 My Word has become a toy and plaything 
 among men; they have tossed it to and fro and 
 broken it in pieces to find its meaning. They 
 have held it to the light to see whereof it is made. 
 They have said, How beautiful is thy Word, O 
 my God! 
 
 My people have become as those who build 
 reservoirs above their fields to catch the rain. 
 When the rain has come they have rejoiced at 
 the deep water and given thanks that it was kept 
 from the soil below, that they might play in 
 its limpid brightness. 
 
 Behold! the water of my Word shall break 
 through their reservoirs of thought. It shall 
 cease to be a toy and plaything and shall run 
 with power over the earth. The thirsty land 
 shall be refreshed and its fruitage increased. 
 
 Men shall no longer shield themselves from 
 the sword of my Word. They shall feel the 
 keenness of its naked blade and know the strength 
 of its hilt. They shall rejoice and be purified 
 through the probing of their hearts. 
 
 Where seekest thou Me, O man.? Am I in 
 that which is past.? Am I in that which is dead.? 
 Am I in that which repeats itself? 
 
 86 
 
THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
 I am in the present moment, and when the 
 moment is past I am in that moment which is 
 present. 
 
 Thou searchest for Me in vain among the dead. 
 Where I have been I am not now, and where I 
 am thou shalt find Me not again. 
 
 I am the ever-new. The act which comes 
 forth from My hand shall repeat itself as waves 
 in the wake of a ship repeat themselves in the 
 waters of the ocean. I am as the ship which has 
 moved on, leaving in its track new waves. 
 
 Men do many things in remembrance of Me. 
 
 Lo! I ask them to remember Me no more. 
 I will blot out their remembrance for I dwell 
 no longer in the past. 
 
 I have left the old time and dwell now in the 
 present. He who would remember Me looks 
 backward where I am not. 
 
 Remember Me no more, ye sons of earth, for 
 My presence is greater than your remembrance 
 of Me. 
 
 I AM as one who passes swiftly and does not return. 
 Shall the plow enter again the furrow it has 
 made in the field.? Does the voice of the singer 
 return to the record of itself and the hand retrace 
 the words it has written? 
 
 87 
 
QUESTS 
 
 The plow passes on to unbroken ground; the 
 voice of the singer is heard in a new song, and the 
 hand of the writer forms new words. 
 
 I am as one who makes a garment and casts 
 it aside. I am as one who scatters seed and 
 stays not for the harvest. I am as one who 
 builds a temple and lingers not within its walls. 
 I am as one who prepares a feast and sits not 
 at the table. 
 
 Continually I flee, and no work of My hand 
 shall restrain Me. My ships do not bear Me 
 nor My roofs shelter Me. The sun gives Me 
 not light and heat, nor does the earth uphold 
 My feet. Neither am I contained within My 
 truth or revealed by My word. 
 
 Behind Me are all the works and thoughts 
 of men and I am beyond all that I have formed 
 or spoken. 
 
 If a man walk with Me shall it be as if he walked 
 with his fellows.? 
 
 Is My pace as the pace of men.? Do I hasten 
 when they hasten and pause where they pause? 
 
 Of old I have walked with men. I have lin- 
 gered where they heaped flowers upon their 
 graves and I have stayed to comfort those who 
 mourned. 
 
 I have conferred with the doubter and waited 
 patiently for the slow of faith. I have stooped 
 
THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
 to the weak and turned aside to meet him who 
 had sinned. I have watched httle children at 
 their play and entered into the manifold concerns 
 of earth. 
 
 Lo! now I move swiftly in the heavens and 
 walk no longer with men. 
 
 He who would walk with Me must linger not 
 by a grave nor seek repose for weariness. He 
 shall not nurse his sorrow or magnify his sin. 
 He shall drop pain as a cast-off garment and lose 
 his weakness in My strength. 
 
 Lo! now I move swiftly in the heavens and 
 walk no longer with men. I wait not for the 
 doubter or for the slow of faith. I stoop not 
 to the weak and turn not aside to meet the sin- 
 ner. I have left the little children and My hand 
 is no longer in the concerns of earth. 
 
 If a man walk with Me it shall not be as if he 
 walked with his fellows. I move swiftly in the 
 heavens and he who would walk with Me must 
 linger not, but hasten, lest I pass beyond his 
 sight. 
 
 I HAVE sent My people forth to many tasks 
 and adventures; — one to build a bridge and 
 one to write a book; one to dig in the earth and 
 one to fly in the air; one to till the soil, and one 
 to sail the sea. There is commerce and there 
 is the teaching of youth. There is conquering 
 
 89 
 
QUESTS 
 
 of nations, and there is resisting. There are 
 tasks and adventures without number. 
 
 My people have grown vain in their hearts. 
 They have said: See the greatness of our works. 
 Behold! we do all things. The sea has become 
 our servant and the stars our guides. Our works 
 have become as the works of Nature. Lo! they 
 exceed the works of Nature. Even he who 
 wields the hoe and she who uses the broom is 
 exalted. 
 
 Behold, I call My people from their tasks as a 
 mother calls her children from their play. I 
 call them from the making of nations and from 
 the building of toy houses. I call them from 
 the sailing of air-ships and from the sailing of 
 kites. I call them from their philosophies and 
 their poems, from their cathedrals and their 
 prisons, from their battle-fields and their golf 
 courses. I call them from all their tasks and 
 adventures. 
 
 I heed not the demur of him who would finish 
 his work. At My call the tool must drop and 
 the top cease its spinning. The statue of marble 
 is but half chiseled and the garment but a quarter 
 wrought. The runner has not reached his goal 
 and the poet has not found words for his thought. 
 
 As a mother calls her children from their 
 play, so call I My people from their work. The 
 night comes on. My people sleep. I, only, 
 am awake in the darkness as a mother who 
 gathers up the toys and prepares for a new day. 
 
 90 
 
THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
 I WILL give unto My people rest. 
 
 The rest which I will give shall be not as the 
 rest of quiet feet and of a body at ease, nor as 
 the rest of folded hands and of closed eyes. 
 Neither shall it be as the rest of the unseeking 
 mind and the satisfied heart. 
 
 My rest is not as the rest of those who travel 
 by day the worn and easy paths and at night 
 return to the roof which sheltered them in child- 
 hood. 
 
 The feet of those who know My rest shall 
 never pause; their eyes shall not close nor their 
 hands be folded. They shall pass from hunger 
 to hunger and shall never cease from searching. 
 
 They will travel by day the steep and unworn 
 paths of the future and at night no roof will 
 hide from them the stars. 
 
 The way that is past shall close behind them 
 that they may not return, and continually before 
 them will open the way which is new. 
 
 The ways that are known are many. 
 
 When men follow the ways that are known 
 they walk assured and confident, though the 
 ways are lonely and difficult. In the darkest 
 path there is witness of those who have passed, 
 and the voices of those who have gone that way 
 linger in the silence. 
 
 91 
 
QUESTS 
 
 Are there before us unknown ways? Dost 
 Thou call to paths where no feet have trod? 
 
 Dost Thou command me to enter the wilder- 
 ness from whence my report will not be believed 
 nor my word trusted? 
 
 Is Thy call from beyond the frontier where 
 Thy pioneers have pitched their tents and Thy 
 scouts are at ease? 
 
 Shall I not tell of the beauty of the land that 
 is found and describe the ways that men have 
 discovered ? 
 
 The land that is found is known to few and 
 the ways that men have discovered are little 
 trod. 
 
 Why callest Thou to ways that are strange 
 and new when Thy people are weary with the 
 journey and would rest? 
 
 Thy call is from afar and to a far land. 
 
 If Thy call had been to a goal close at hand 
 I could have attained rest in my youth. All the 
 years of my life would not have been given to 
 striving and my nights to listening for Thy call. 
 I should have found peace in friendship and joy 
 in the love of kin. The tasks of a day would 
 have sufficed for my hands and the pleasures of a 
 day would have filled my thoughts. A house 
 would have been my shelter and the world my 
 dwelling-place. 
 
 92 
 
THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
 Behold! Thou hast called me from afar to a 
 goal I know not. Thou hast given me no rest 
 save in striving and in my sleep thou still urgest 
 me. 
 
 Thou hast broken the bonds of friendship and 
 severed me from kindred. When the work of the 
 day is finished Thy task rises before me in the 
 darkness, and the pleasures of a day are forgotten 
 in the hope of Thy promised joy. 
 
 Thou hast laid low the walls of my house, and 
 the world has become as the stopping-place of a 
 day. 
 
 Thy call is from afar and to a goal I know not. 
 
 Men have found Thee in the rock and in the 
 tree; in bird and animal, and within the human 
 heart. 
 
 They have found Thee in the sky and in the 
 ocean, in the stars and sun, and in the mighty 
 wind. 
 
 Thou hast descended to earth as a dove and 
 as the rain which watereth the grass. Thou hast 
 led men by a pillar of fire, and Thou hast spoken 
 from the flaming bush and from the mount that 
 might not be touched. 
 
 I would find Thee where Thou art not manifest. 
 I would find Thee where there is no sound nor 
 light nor substance. I would find Thee where 
 there is nothing but Thyself. 
 
 93 
 
QUESTS 
 
 I would see Thee where Thou art not visible, 
 and hear Thee where Thou makest no sound. 
 
 I would find Thee where there is nothing but 
 Thyself. 
 
 I WOULD not be always as one who stands where 
 Thou hast passed. 
 
 I would stand where Thou art passing that I 
 may see Thy face. 
 
 I would not be always as one who hears the 
 words Thou hast spoken. 
 
 I would hear Thy voice and know the w^ords 
 Thou art speaking. 
 
 I would not be always as one who knows Thou 
 hast visited the earth. 
 
 I would know when Thou art here that I 
 may touch the hem of Thy garment. 
 
 In my soul is the sound of many voices. They 
 are little voices and they speak of little things. 
 
 The sound of the many little voices is so loud 
 that I can not hear Thy voice. Thy voice is 
 great and it speaks of great things. 
 
 I would silence the many little voices that I 
 may hear Thy great voice speaking alone. 
 
 When I was a child I was fearful of many things. 
 High in an elm tree worms had spun them a 
 
 94 
 
THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
 nest about the slender twigs. I ran quickly 
 past the tree on my way to school, for the nest 
 was in the likeness of a little old woman and her 
 sharp eyes looked down upon me. In my bed 
 I turned my back upon a tall, draped figure, for if 
 I turned my back the figure was no longer there. 
 
 In my youth the noises of the night afltrighted 
 me, and I locked my door against the presences 
 without. The evil in the world became as a 
 many-headed monster ready to assail me and I 
 trembled and was dismayed at the presence of 
 life. 
 
 Then a Voice spoke to me from out the dark- 
 ness, saying: Have no fear. I am Master In 
 this world and of nothing may it be said, It is 
 greater than I. 
 
 One day thou shalt stand with Me at the 
 tempest's heart when the lightnings dart from 
 My hand and the swift, strong winds depart. 
 Thou shalt descend with Me to the dungeons of 
 disease where sickness is bred and the pestilence 
 which devastates the earth. Thou shalt bare 
 thy breast to the murderer's knife and thy 
 treasure shall be upon the high-road where 
 thieves pass in the night. Thou shalt pass un- 
 scathed through the den of the harlot and in 
 the presence of the libertine thou shalt remain 
 pure. 
 
 No demon of the mind's fancy shall assail 
 thee, and the noises of the night shall be as 
 precious secrets to thine ears. 
 
QUESTS 
 
 Thou shalt laugh at mourning and mock at 
 death, for I am Master in this world and of nothing 
 may it be said, It is greater than I. 
 
 My life is set to the rhythm of eternity. Its 
 rhythm is not as that of the lives of men. It is 
 slower than the rhythm of their lives. When 
 men run swiftly after many things, when they 
 hasten with shouts toward their goals, I am quiet 
 and the pulse of my life is unstirred. 
 
 The rhythm of my life is quicker than that of 
 the lives of men. When they have ceased their 
 running and sit by the evening fire, when sleep 
 is upon them and the pulse of their life is slow, 
 my soul moves with terrible swiftness toward a 
 goal beyond the farthest star. 
 
 The years of my life yet to be lived are behind 
 me. I look back upon all the years of my life. 
 
 The journey from youth to the grave is very 
 short. It is accomplished. I have seen my body 
 fall and the earth cover it. 
 
 I have watched the little candle of my life go 
 out and the great world is no less light. I hear 
 no more the sound of my voice, but there are no 
 less voices in the world. 
 
 I have seen my life pass away as a cloud, and 
 I stand in the clear shining of the sun. 
 
 96 
 
THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
 The youth of the world is renewed dally by the 
 coming of little children. They rise among the 
 failing and the aged as fresh growths in an ancient 
 and dying forest. Continually they replace 
 that which is old. 
 
 The little children at length grow old and are 
 weary. Their flesh fails and they pass away. 
 
 Is there that which is continually new.^ Is 
 there that which grows not old and passes not 
 away.? 
 
 Behold! Thou art younger than a new-born 
 child and more new than a day at its dawning. 
 
 When the earth shall be no more Thine age 
 will be no greater than when the earth was not. 
 
 Birth, dawn, and spring, and hope and love, 
 are but veiled witnesses to Thine eternal youth. 
 
 Life has many duties to be performed, and one 
 duty speaks to one man and another duty to 
 another man. 
 
 The duty which has spoken to me Is not as 
 those which have spoken to other men. 
 
 It is not the strong and noble duty of a father, 
 or the gentle and tender duty of a mother. It 
 is not the duty of one who ministers to suffering 
 and assuages sorrow. It is not the duty of one 
 who moves among his fellows to raise and bless 
 
 97 
 
QUESTS 
 
 them. It is not the duty of friend or servant, 
 sister or lover. 
 
 The duty which has spoken to me is the duty of 
 one who is called apart to be silent and to listen. 
 
 It is the duty of one who is commanded to be 
 separate from the concerns of men that he may 
 learn of the concerns beyond men. 
 
 It is the duty of one who is commanded to 
 turn aside from the known and traveled ways, 
 and enter upon the ways that are untrodden and 
 unknown. 
 
 As a musician tunes the strings of his instru- 
 ment, so hast Thou tuned my spirit to Thy use. 
 
 The bow of Thy testing has been drawn a 
 thousand times and Thy keen ear has listened 
 all the years of my life for its perfect tune. 
 
 I shrank from the drawing of Thy bow. I 
 rebelled against the fineness of Thine ear. I 
 cried out. It is enough; play upon Thine instru- 
 ment as it is, lest Thou strain its strings to breaking. 
 
 But Thou desisted not. 
 
 There came a day when Thine instrument 
 was in tune with the beauty of the world. The 
 forest and the cloud broke into music upon its 
 strings and the sea and stars gave forth their 
 melody. There came a day when it sang of the 
 longing of human hearts and of the greatness and 
 mystery of love. There came a day when from 
 
 98 
 
THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
 Its Upper strings was drawn a clear, faint strain 
 of the music of eternity. 
 
 I ASKED that I might be shown the Spirit of the 
 West and of the East, and visions were granted 
 me. 
 
 I saw darkness, deeper than the darkness of 
 night. From the darkness came a million 
 lights and darkness was no more. There was 
 silence, deeper than the silence of night. From 
 the silence a million sounds were born and there 
 was an end of silence. 
 
 I saw a vast and shapeless mass break into 
 countless forms. I saw a beam of pure white 
 light dissolve Into countless colors. A lichen 
 grew upon a rock, and the earth was green with 
 forests and sweet with flowers. Life stirred In a 
 pool, and the earth and air bred myriad crawling, 
 flying, leaping things. 
 
 A creature walked upright, and in the course 
 of ages nations were born. The hand of man 
 formed many things and in his brain were many 
 thoughts. Man set himself to lengthen, divide, 
 and multiply the threads of life. He said: 
 Let us Increase, Improve, and strengthen Man. 
 Let us multiply his works and his thoughts. 
 Let us give him dominion and power. 
 
 Thus saw I the Spirit of the West. 
 
 99 
 
QUESTS 
 
 I saw a man fall and die. I saw war and pesti- 
 lence sweep the earth. I saw a nation blotted out 
 and a people become no more. 
 
 The green of the forests turned to brown and 
 the grass withered. Over all the earth there 
 was no living thing. I saw the thousand tints 
 of the rainbow withdrawn into a pure white 
 beam of light. Form sank to formlessness; 
 sound returned to silence and light to the abyss 
 of darkness. The threads of life were gathered 
 into one strand and the strand broke. 
 
 All that had been was as if it were not. 
 
 Then a Voice spoke, saying: All that has 
 been came forth from Me and returns. I have 
 power to give and to withdraw, to form and re- 
 form. My power and dominion exceed the 
 power and dominion of man. They shall last 
 forever. 
 
 Thus saw I the Spirit of the East. 
 
 I SAW the nations of the earth at war. Months 
 grew to years, and the long battle line wavered 
 from east to west and back again. 
 
 The dead lay upon the ground like fallen fruit 
 which men have not time to gather and which 
 turns to decay. 
 
 I heard the armies of the east and of the west 
 praying for victory, and the favor of their gods 
 visited them and was withdrawn. 
 
 ICX) 
 
THE ETERNAL QUEST 
 
 Then a Voice spoke from the smoke above 
 the battle-field, saying: I am greater than 
 thy god or the god of thine enemy. The victory 
 which is to come shall be not thy victory nor the 
 victory of thine enemy. It shall be My victory, 
 for I am the God of thine enemy and of thyself, 
 and My victory shall be for all men and all 
 nations. 
 
 lOI 
 
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