Poem X

1What pearl art thou that none possesseth the price of thee?What does the world possess that is not thy gift?

2Is there a worse punishment than his who lives away from thy face?Punish not thy servant tho’ he is unworthy of thee.

3He that is fallen amid the surge of accidentsEscapes not by swimming, since he is no friend of thine.

4The world has no permanence, and if it have,Deem it perishable, because it is unfamiliar with thy permanence.

5How happy the king that is mated by thy rook!How fair company hath he who lacks not thine!

6I desire continually to fling heart and soul at thy feet;Dust on the head of the soul which is not the dust of thy feet!

7Blessed to all birds is desire of thee;How unblest the bird that desires thee not!

8I will not shun thy blow, for very crudeIs the heart ne’er burned in the fire of thy affliction.

9To thy praise and praisers there is no end;What atom but is reeling with thy praise?