The Black Riders

 

I Black riders came from the sea.

 

II Three little birds in a row

 

III In the desert

 

IV Yes, I have a thousand tongues,

 

V Once there came a man

 

VI God fashioned the ship of the world carefully.

 

VII Mystic shadow, bending near me,

 

VIII I looked here;

 

IX I stood upon a high place,

 

X Should the wide world roll away,

 

XI In a lonely place,

 

XII "And the sins of the fathers shall be

 

XIII If there is a witness to my little life,

 

XIV There was crimson clash of war.

 

XV "Tell brave deeds of war."

 

XVI Charity thou art a lie,

 

XVII There were many who went in huddled procession,

 

XVIII In heaven,

 

XIX A god in wrath

 

XX A learned man came to me once.

 

XXI There was, before me,

 

XXII Once I saw mountains angry,

 

XXIII Places among the stars,

 

XXIV I saw a man pursuing the horizon;

 

XXV Behold, the grave of a wicked man,

 

XXVI There was set before me a mighty hill,

 

XXVII A youth in apparel that glittered

 

XXVIII "Truth," said a traveller,

 

XXIX Behold, from the land of the farther suns

 

XXX Supposing that I should have the courage

 

XXXI Many workmen

 

XXXII Two or three angels

 

XXXIII There was one I met upon the road

 

XXXIV I stood upon a highway,

 

XXXV A man saw a ball of gold in the sky;

 

XXXVI I met a seer.

 

XXXVII On the horizon the peaks assembled;

 

XXXVIII The ocean said to me once,

 

XXXIX The livid lightnings flashed in the clouds;

 

XL And you love me

 

XLI Love walked alone.

 

XLII I walked in a desert.

 

XLIII There came whisperings in the winds:

 

XLIV I was in the darkness;

 

XLV Tradition, thou art for suckling children,

 

XLVI Many red devils ran from my heart

 

XLVII "Think as I think," said a man,

 

XLVIII Once there was a man --

 

XLIX I stood musing in a black world,

 

L You say you are holy,

 

LI A man went before a strange God --

 

LII Why do you strive for greatness, fool?

 

LIII Blustering God

 

LIV "It was wrong to do this," said the angel.

 

LV A man toiled on a burning road,

 

LVI A man feared that he might find an assassin;

 

LVII With eye and with gesture

 

LVIII The sage lectured brilliantly.

 

LIX Walking in the sky,

 

LX Upon the road of my life,

 

LXI There was a man and a woman

 

LXII There was a man who lived a life of fire.

 

LXIII There was a great cathedral.

 

LXIV Friend, your white beard sweeps the ground.

 

LXV Once, I knew a fine song,

 

LXVI If I should cast off this tattered coat,

 

LXVII God lay dead in heaven;

 

LXVIII A spirit sped