THE BOUNDLESS
Look not to the sea for the infinite,
It is the human life that boundless is;
Who would call that an unlimited being
Whose measurements are to all known and fixed?
The sea's limits were found by sailing boats
Of merchants, Phoenician, Hindu, Greek;
Subdued and ruled are the vast blue waters
Today by electricity and steam.
The weight of every quart of brine you know,
Of the polar as of the tropic seas;
You know where the depth is Himâlayan height,
Also the deeper and shallower beds.
The metric standard has gauged the billows,
The ocean floor has tendered its contents;
How far down the surface pass heat and light
Is perceptible to extended touch and sight.
The Gulf Stream's path and speed are all chalked
out,
Scheduled are the exact times of the tides,
You can write out the correct horoscope
Of the monsoons and the trade winds of the globe.
By man's strength is the universe always
Of an infinite's mystery deprived;
The only adorable on earth, then, is
The limitless life, love, hatred of man.
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