Said I, "And what path of wisdom
followest
thou?
Khalil Gibran - Poems
"
And I answered them all, and said:
"Remember only that I smiled. I do not atone--nor sacrifice--nor
wish for glory; and I have nothing to forgive. I thirsted--and I
besought you to give me my blood to drink. For what is there can
quench a madman's thirst but his own blood? I was dumb--and I
asked wounds of you for mouths. I was imprisoned in your days and
nights--and I sought a door into larger days and nights.
And now I go--as others already crucified have gone. And think not
we are weary of crucifixion. For we must be crucified by larger
and yet larger men, between greater earths and greater heavens. "
The Astronomer
In the shadow of the temple my friend and I saw a blind man sitting
alone. And my friend said, "Behold the wisest man of our land. "
Then I left my friend and approached the blind man and greeted him.
And we conversed.
After a while I said, "Forgive my question; but since when has thou
been blind? "
"From my birth," he answered.
Said I, "And what path of wisdom followest thou? "
Said he, "I am an astronomer. "
Then he placed his hand upon his breast saying, "I watch all these
suns and moons and stars. "
The Great Longing
Here I sit between my brother the mountain and my sister the sea.
We three are one in loneliness, and the love that binds us together
is deep and strong and strange. Nay, it is deeper than my sister's
depth and stronger than my brother's strength, and stranger than
the strangeness of my madness.
Aeons upon aeons have passed since the first grey dawn made us
visible to one another; and though we have seen the birth and the
fullness and the death of many worlds, we are still eager and young.
We are young and eager and yet we are mateless and unvisited, and
though we lie in unbroken half embrace, we are uncomforted. And
what comfort is there for controlled desire and unspent passion?
Whence shall come the flaming god to warm my sister's bed? And
what she-torrent shall quench my brother's fire? And who is the
woman that shall command my heart?
In the stillness of the night my sister murmurs in her sleep the
fire-god's unknown name, and my brother calls afar upon the cool
and distant goddess. But upon whom I call in my sleep I know not.
* * * * * * * * *
Here I sit between my brother the mountain and my sister the sea.
We three are one in loneliness, and the love that binds us together
is deep and strong and strange.
And I answered them all, and said:
"Remember only that I smiled. I do not atone--nor sacrifice--nor
wish for glory; and I have nothing to forgive. I thirsted--and I
besought you to give me my blood to drink. For what is there can
quench a madman's thirst but his own blood? I was dumb--and I
asked wounds of you for mouths. I was imprisoned in your days and
nights--and I sought a door into larger days and nights.
And now I go--as others already crucified have gone. And think not
we are weary of crucifixion. For we must be crucified by larger
and yet larger men, between greater earths and greater heavens. "
The Astronomer
In the shadow of the temple my friend and I saw a blind man sitting
alone. And my friend said, "Behold the wisest man of our land. "
Then I left my friend and approached the blind man and greeted him.
And we conversed.
After a while I said, "Forgive my question; but since when has thou
been blind? "
"From my birth," he answered.
Said I, "And what path of wisdom followest thou? "
Said he, "I am an astronomer. "
Then he placed his hand upon his breast saying, "I watch all these
suns and moons and stars. "
The Great Longing
Here I sit between my brother the mountain and my sister the sea.
We three are one in loneliness, and the love that binds us together
is deep and strong and strange. Nay, it is deeper than my sister's
depth and stronger than my brother's strength, and stranger than
the strangeness of my madness.
Aeons upon aeons have passed since the first grey dawn made us
visible to one another; and though we have seen the birth and the
fullness and the death of many worlds, we are still eager and young.
We are young and eager and yet we are mateless and unvisited, and
though we lie in unbroken half embrace, we are uncomforted. And
what comfort is there for controlled desire and unspent passion?
Whence shall come the flaming god to warm my sister's bed? And
what she-torrent shall quench my brother's fire? And who is the
woman that shall command my heart?
In the stillness of the night my sister murmurs in her sleep the
fire-god's unknown name, and my brother calls afar upon the cool
and distant goddess. But upon whom I call in my sleep I know not.
* * * * * * * * *
Here I sit between my brother the mountain and my sister the sea.
We three are one in loneliness, and the love that binds us together
is deep and strong and strange.
