Human! Human! burning bright,
Nature’s burden, Nature’s blight,
Such deluded hands and eyes,
Such frightful strange asymmetry!
Throughout the depths and in the skies
The fallout of thy greed and lies.
With wings of wax you dare aspire,
The fool forgot he stole the fire.
Tense, curved shoulders, and sickened heart,
The loss of spirit and of art . . .
And when thy soul cried out for bread,
Who chose desire and fear instead?
Ideas and dogmas turn to chains
Holding back thy brilliant brain.
The fist of thought has a deadly grasp,
But might those fingers yet unclasp?
When the stars burst into dust
Giving forth what maketh us,
Did their final glimmer show
How misdirected we might go?
Human! Human! burning bright
Nature’s wonder, Nature’s light,
Such awakened hands and eyes,
Such joyful strange asymmetry!