(A Modernity)
Twelve good friendsPassed under her hat,And devil a one of themKnew where he was at.
Had they but known,Then had they known all things, --The littleness of great things,The unmeasured immensity of small things.They had known the Where and the Why,The When and the Wherefore,And how the EternalConceived the Eternal, and thereforeBeginning began the Beginning;They had apprehendedThe ultimate virtue of sinning;They had caught the whisperThat Vega vibrates to Arcturus,Piercing the wallsOf heavy flesh that immure us.
But if they had known,Then had there been no mystery;And Life had been poorer,And laughter unsurer,And the shadow of death securer,By lack of this brief history.
