(A Modernity)
Twelve good friends
Passed under her hat,
And devil a one of them
Knew where he was at.
Had they but known,
Then had they known all things, —
The littleness of great things,
The unmeasured immensity of small things.
They had known the Where and the Why,
The When and the Wherefore,
And how the Eternal
Conceived the Eternal, and therefore
Beginning began the Beginning;
They had apprehended
The ultimate virtue of sinning;
They had caught the whisper
That Vega vibrates to Arcturus,
Piercing the walls
Of heavy flesh that immure us.
But if they had known,
Then had there been no mystery;
And Life had been poorer,
And laughter unsurer,
And the shadow of death securer,
By lack of this brief history.
(Charles G. D. Roberts)
More Poetry from Charles G. D. Roberts:
Charles G. D. Roberts Poems based on Topics: Death & Dying, Life, Mystery, Friendship, Laughter, Eternity, History, Vice & Virtue, Devils- Ave! (An Ode for the Shelley Centenary, 1892) (Charles G. D. Roberts Poems)
- Canada (Charles G. D. Roberts Poems)
- Tantramar Revisited (Charles G. D. Roberts Poems)
- The Solitary Woodsman (Charles G. D. Roberts Poems)
- The Great and Little Weavers (Charles G. D. Roberts Poems)
- The Skater (Charles G. D. Roberts Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Life Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Friendship Poems, Eternity Poems, Laughter Poems, Mystery Poems, Vice & Virtue Poems, Devils Poems, History PoemsBased on Keywords: arcturus, littleness, vibrates, apprehended, immure, securer, vega, modernity