Thomas R. Lounsbury, ed. (1838–1915). Yale Book of American Verse. 1912.
Ralph Waldo Emerson 18031882
Ralph Waldo Emerson49 Brahma
I
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.
Shadow and sunlight are the same; The vanished gods to me appear; And one to me are shame and fame. When me they fly, I am the wings; I am the doubter and the doubt, And I the hymn the Brahmin sings. And pine in vain the sacred Seven; But thou, meek lover of the good! Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.