Poetry Archives

Great god whom I shall carve from this gray stone
   Wherein thou liest, hid to all but me,
Grant thou that when my art hath made thee known
   And others bow, I shall not worship thee.
But, as I pray thee now, then let me pray
   Some greater god,—like thee to be conceived
Within my soul,—for strength to turn away
   From his new altar, when, that task achieved,
He, too, stands manifest.  Yea, let me yearn
   From dream to grander dream!  Let me not rest
Content at any goal!  Still bid me spurn
   Each transient triumph on the Eternal Quest,
Abjuring godlings whom my hand hath made
For Deity, revealed, but unportrayed!