Author: Archibald MacLeish
Quotes of Author: Archibald MacLeish
Tell me, my patient friends, awaiters of messages.From what other shore, from what stranger,Whence, was the word to come? Who was to lesson you?Listeners under a child's crib in a manger,Listeners once by the oracles, now by the transoms,Whom are you waiting for? Who do you think will explain?Listeners thousands of years and still no answer-Writers at night to Miss Lonely-Hearts, awkward spellers,Open your eyes! There is only earth and the man!There is only you. There is no one else on the telephone:No one else is on the air to whisper:No one else but you will push the bell.No one knows if you don't: neither shipsNor landing-fields decode the dark between.You have your eyes and what your eyes see, is.The earth you see is really the earth you are seeing.The sun is truly excellent, truly warm,Women are beautiful as you have seen them-Their breasts {believe it} like cooing of doves in a portico.They bear at their breasts tenderness softly. Look at them!Look at yourselves. You are strong. You are well formed.Look at the world-the world you never took!It is really true you may live in the world heedlessly.Why do you wait to read it in a book then?Write it yourselves! Write to yourselves if you need to!Tell yourselves there is sun and the sun will rise.Tell yourselves the earth has food to feed you.Let the dead men say that men must die!Who better than you can know what death is?How can a bone or a broken body surmise it?Let the dead shriek with their whispering breath.Laugh at them! Say the murdered gods may wakeBut we who work have end of work together.Tell yourselves the earth is yours to take!Waiting for messages out of the dark you were poor.The world was always yours: you would not take it." book-quote...It is colder now,There are many stars,We are driftingNorth by the Great Bear,The leaves are falling,The water is stone in the scooped rocks,To southwardRed sun grey air:The crows areSlow on their crooked wings,The jays have left us:Long since we passed the flares of Orion.Each man believes in his heart he will die.Many have written last thoughts and last letters.None know if our deaths are now or forever:None know if this wandering earth will be found.We lie down and the snow covers our garments.I pray you,You {if any open this writing}Make in your mouths the words that were our names.I will tell you all we have learned,I will tell you everything:The earth is round,There are springs under the orchards,The loam cuts with a blunt knife,Beware ofElms in thunder,The lights in the sky are stars-We think they do not see,We think alsoThe trees do not know nor the leaves of the grasses hear us:The birds too are ignorant.Do not listen.Do not stand at dark in the open windows.We before you have heard this:They are voices:They are not words at all but the wind rising.Also none among us has seen God.{...We have thought oftenThe flaws of sun in the late and driving weatherPointed to one tree but it was not so.}As for the nights I warn you the nights are dangerous:The wind changes at night and the dreams come.It is very cold,There are strange stars near Arcturus,Voices are crying an unknown name in the sky book-quotepoetry
