THE SONG OF IRON

Not yet hast Thou sounded

Thy clangorous music,

Whose strings are under the mountains...

Not yet hast Thou spoken

The blooded, implacable Word...

But I hear in the Iron singing —

In the triumphant roaring of the steam and pistons pounding —

Thy barbaric exhortation...

And the blood leaps in my arteries, unreproved,

Answering Thy call...

All my spirit is inundated with the tumultuous passion of Thy Voice,

And sings exultant with the Iron,

For now I know I too am of Thy Chosen...

Oh fashioned in fire —

Needing flame for Thy ultimate word —

Behold me, a cupola

Poured to Thy use!

Heed not my tremulous body

That faints in the grip of Thy gauntlet.

Break it... and cast it aside...

But make of my spirit

That dares and endures

Thy crucible...

Pour through my soul

Thy molten, world-whelming song.

... Here at Thy uttermost gate

Like a new Mary, I wait...