Mandragora/The Cry

by John Cowper Powys

For works with similar titles, see Cry.

THE CRY

DO you not hear her crying
   Out and away and beyond?
Those are the grasses sighing
   To the lilies in the pond!
All night long they sigh and talk
   As the wind wails up the garden-walk.
They sigh to the lilies in the pond —
   But what do they know of away and beyond?

Do you not hear her crying
   Out and beyond and afar?
Those are the wild-swans flying
   Towards the evening star!
All night long they fly to the west;
   And a hundred forests beneath them rest,
And a hundred sunsets behind them are!
   But what do they know of beyond and afar?

Out and away and beyond,
   I tell you I hear her crying!
Beyond the grass and the pond —
   Beyond the wild-swans flying —
Do you think I am mad that I know not
   That rise and fall in her cry?
There is no God if I go not
   To find her before I die!