Poems (Henley)/I am the Reaper
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I am the Reaper.All things with heedful hookSilent I gather.Pale roses touched with the spring,Tall corn in summer,Fruits rich with autumn, and frail winter blossoms—Reaping, still reaping—All things with heedful hookTimely I gather.
I am the Sower.All the unbodied lifeRuns through my seed-sheet.Atom with atom wed,Each quickening the other,Fall through my hands, ever changing, still changeless. Ceaselessly sowing,Life, incorruptible life,Flows from my seed-sheet.
Maker and breaker,I am the ebb and the flood,Here and Hereafter.Sped through the tangle and coilOf infinite nature,Viewless and soundless I fashion all being.Taker and giver,I am the womb and the grave,The Now and the Ever.
1875