I know I have the best of time and space, and was
never measured and never will
be measured.
I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen
all!)
My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a
staff cut from the
woods,
No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair,
I have no chair, no church, no philosophy,
I lead no man to a dinner-table, library,
exchange,
But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a
knoll,
My left hand hooking you round the waist,
My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents
and the public road.
Not I, not any one else can travel that road for
you,
You must travel it for yourself.
It is not far, it is within reach,
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born and
did not know,
Perhaps it is everywhere on water and on land.
Shoulder your duds dear son, and I will mine, and
let us hasten forth,
Wonderful cities and free nations we shall fetch as
we go.
If you tire, give me both burdens, and rest the
chuff of your hand on my
hip,
And in due time you shall repay the same service to
me,
For after we start we never lie by again.
This day before dawn I ascended a hill and look'd at
the crowded heaven,
And I said to my spirit When we
become the enfolders of those
orbs,
and the pleasure and knowledge of every thing in
them,
shall we be fill'd and satisfied then?
And my spirit said No, we but
level that lift to pass and continue
beyond.
You are also asking me questions and I hear
you,
I answer that I cannot answer, you must find out for
yourself.
Sit a while dear son,
Here are biscuits to eat and here is milk to
drink,
But as soon as you sleep and renew yourself in sweet
clothes, I
kiss
you with a good-by kiss and open the gate for
your egress
hence.
Long enough have you dream'd contemptible
dreams,
Now I wash the gum from your eyes,
You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light
and of every moment of your
life.
Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the
shore,
Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,
To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod
to me, shout, and laughingly
dash with your hair.