OUT OF THE FOG
V.
So backward goes the chain,
Each mortal lessening to a child,
And on to mating cells in the darkness,
The human telescoping again and again,
Back through the frozen ages of earth
And the tropic flowering before them,
So on to the first timid stirrers in the water,
And the burning star-ages earlier.
The restless skin of the earth
Writhes into plant and fish, bird and man,
And what lies in the fog of the future.
So backward goes the chain,
Each mortal lessening to a child,
And on to mating cells in the darkness,
The human telescoping again and again,
Back through the frozen ages of earth
And the tropic flowering before them,
So on to the first timid stirrers in the water,
And the burning star-ages earlier.
The restless skin of the earth
Writhes into plant and fish, bird and man,
And what lies in the fog of the future.
VI.
Across in the subway they sit.
They chatter, and yawn, and drowse,
Dwellers in the fog,
Unseeing themselves, or any other thing,
Themselves unseen, except for a fleeting fog-view.
The cars grind to a standstill,
Eyes fall from the car cards,
They pass jostling into the crowd,
Out of the fog, . . . into the fog, . . .
Leaving the fog behind.
Across in the subway they sit.
They chatter, and yawn, and drowse,
Dwellers in the fog,
Unseeing themselves, or any other thing,
Themselves unseen, except for a fleeting fog-view.
The cars grind to a standstill,
Eyes fall from the car cards,
They pass jostling into the crowd,
Out of the fog, . . . into the fog, . . .
Leaving the fog behind.
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