In one great crowd, they pulsed above him — those

he either damned or blessed, condemned or chose.

Surmising he was lost, he looked aloft.

Escaping from the peoples’ stench, he rose

with clawing hands: he climbed a pillar's shaft

that seemed to rise forever, till it soared

no more. He started, all alone up there,

to match his sins, which were without compare,

against the shining glories of the Lord,

which had no end. He matched, but he could see:

the Other only grew, inducing awe.

And shepherd, farmer, rafter — each man — saw

him dwindling down, except when he

was wholly rapt in discourse with the skies

(which sometimes filled with rain, sometimes were fair).

And all the time, his howls, like wailing cries

that filled all faces, poured down from the air.

And still he did not see them there

for years, as all that crowd coursed down below

and ceaslessly replenished, and the bright

gear of the nobles never reached that height

to which its gleaming couldn't go.

But up there, when he felt close to damnation —

flesh torn to shreds by all their stubborn wars —

forlorn, and with a desperate, last-ditch yell,

he shook those daily demons off, and down

they thudded on the foremost ranks. They fell

in ponderous clumsiness from festering sores.

Gross maggots fell on every open crown,

and crawled in velvet propagation.

Die ägyptische Maria

Seit sie damals, bettheiß, als die Hure

übern Jordan floh und, wie ein Grab

gebend, stark und unvermischt das pure

Herz der Ewigkeit zu trinken gab,

wuchs ihr frühes Hingegebensein

unaufhaltsam an zu solcher Größe,

daß sie endlich, wie die ewige Blöße

Aller, aus vergilbtem Elfenbein

dalag in der dürren Haare Schelfe.

Und ein Löwe kreiste; und ein Alter

rief ihn winkend an, daß er ihm helfe:

(und so gruben sie zu zwein.)

Und der Alte neigte sie hinein.

Und der Löwe, wie ein Wappenhalter,

saß dabei und hielt den Stein.