Poems (Hardy)/Truth
For works with similar titles, see Truth.
TRUTH
MEN make thought of thee after their own Measure. According to their wit they sound Thy seas and search thy skies. When they have foundThe thing that verifies their guess,—some stoneToo old for life carved deep with life, some cone Where fern should be, some square that should be round,— They make the world's broad market-place resound,Till earth with shattered faiths lies thickly strewn.Let us forbear to blame,—let us forbear! For wistfully upon the desert waste Men watch the eastern quarter of the sky;For wistfully, with wide eyes half-aware Of somewhat waiting still to know and taste, Youth runs to meet thee face to face and die.