IV

And behold! there ran thro’ the market,

Hard by where the Dreamer stood,

A natural, void of desire

Save for warmth of the sun or of fire

Or for softness abed or food.

Naught held he dearer in mind,

Save the branchèd lightning veins;

And in naught more strongly rejoiced

Save the sound of the thunder deep-voiced

Or the fertile flash of the rains

Or the seas climbing into the harbour;

And so thro’ the market he ran

Happy and careless and free

( Him no man heeded for he

Was a boy who would ne'er be a man )

Munching the gift of a cake,

A pilfered apple or fig,

Or danced with his shadow awhile,

Smiling a secret smile,

Or twirled a hued whirligig.

And the Dreamer called to him, “Come!”

As he skipped in the sun with his Shadow.

And the boy came doubtful and shy

With a timid foot and eye,

As a young horse comes in a meadow.

And the Dreamer touched his cheek

And murmured, “Be not afraid,”

And the boy took heart and smiled,

For the voice was tender and mild,

And then half sadly it said,

“Oh! ye who have called me the Master,

The Teller of Truth, and the Wise,

Oh! ye who have strayed in the dark

Give ear to my saying and mark,

For I give you a pearl of price,

“A dark saying, and a hard saying

To those who read it aright —

This natural, whom ye see,

Is wiser, Oh! blind ones, than ye,

And thus have I learned in the night.”