Better Gutenberg
Free, beautifully formatted public-domain ebooks

The Poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

63 of 185 · Contents · Download EPUB

Brahma

If the red slayer think he slays,
  Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
  I keep, and pass, and turn again.

Far or forgot to me is near;
  Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
  And one to me are shame and fame.

They reckon ill who leave me out;
  When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
  And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

The strong gods pine for my abode,
  And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
  Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.

← Back to The Poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Scroll to Top