Stalking down stone corridors, Armored as old knights Walking on crenelated walls In safety, Come the old gods Blurred in misty ages Of whispered talk; And come also the new spectres: Evolution, Heredity, Fatalistic-Psychology. Walking in safety on crenelated battlements They shatter laughter, crisp As the shatter of icicles, Over humanity. It's a good jest—Humanity— Made for the old gods and new spectres, And they laugh heartily While their walls are unavailingly besieged. Catching hurricane gales In butterfly nets Is no more profitless, mankind; Stop storming intangible walls Stronger than steel! Have a jest of your own: Fashion new worlds and be gods to them, For creation is only the blowing Of warm breath on never-seen eyelids; Easily done. Merely try it. ... Only be kind toward your puppets; To win love your own gods Can never command. There's a new jest, not a harsh one— See if the old gods will enjoy it! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FLUTE-PRIEST SONG FOR RAIN; CEREMONIAL AT THE SUN SPRING by AMY LOWELL ANOTHER DARK LADY by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON TO A SOLITARY DISCIPLE by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS PLEASURE MIXED WITH PAIN by THOMAS WYATT TO A POET, WHO WOULD HAVE ME PRAISE CERTAIN BAD POETS, IMITATORS ... by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS |