Elinor Wylie

The Eagle and the Mole

Avoid the reeking herd, 
Shun the polluted flock, 
Live like that stoic bird, 
The eagle of the rock.

The huddled warmth of crowds 
Begets and fosters hate; 
He keeps above the clouds 
His cliff inviolate.

When flocks are folded warm, 
And herds to shelter run, 
He sails above the storm, 
He stares into the sun. 

If in the eagle’s track 
Your sinews cannot leap, 
Avoid the lathered pack, 
Turn from the steaming sheep. 

If you would keep your soul 
From spotted sight or sound, 
Live like the velvet mole: 
Go burrow underground. 

And there hold intercourse 
With roots of trees and stones, 
With rivers at their source, 
And disembodied bones.