SOOTHSAY. Behold, with rod twy-serpented, Hermes the prophet, twining in one power The woman with the man. Upon his head The cloudy cap, wherewith he hath in dower The cloud's own virtue -- change and counterchange, To show in light, and to withdraw in pall, As mortal eyes best bear. His lineage strange From Zeus, Truth's sire, and maiden May -- the all-Illusive Nature. His fledged feet declare That 'tis the nether self transdeified, And the thrice-furnaced passions, which do bear The poet Olympusward. In him allied Both parents clasp; and from the womb of Nature Stern Truth takes flesh in shows of lovely feature. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE ARABIAN SHAWL by KATHERINE MANSFIELD I SIT AND SEW by ALICE RUTH MOORE DUNBAR-NELSON THREE KINGS OF ORIENT by JOHN HENRY HOPKINS JR. A SHROPSHIRE LAD: 26 by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN THE MASTER BLACKSMITH by ARNOLD ANDREWS THERE WAS A GARDEN by MARIE BARTON |