Bent on my face, with gaze which scanned
My soul, his eyes did rest.
"And is it thou," he cried, "so long
Held by the world which we
Loved not, who turnest from the throng
Back to thy youth and me?
"And from thy world, with heart opprest,
Choosest thou now to turn?
Ah me! we anchorites read things best,
Clearest their course discern!
"Thou fled'st me when the ungenial earth,
Man's work-place, lay in gloom:
Return'st thou in her hour of birth,
Of hopes and hearts in bloom?
"Perceiv'st thou not the change of day?
Ah! Carry back thy ken,
What, some two thousand years! Survey
The world as it was then.
"Like ours it looked in outward air.
Its head was clear and true,
Sumptuous its clothing, rich its fare,
No pause its action knew;
"Stout was its arm, each thew and bone
Seemed puissant and alive:
But, ah! its heart, its heart was stone,
And so it could not thrive!
"On that hard Pagan world, disgust
And secret loathing fell;
Deep weariness and sated lust
Made human life a hell.
