East of Eden

He smiled,
And from the hollow of his hand let fall
A crimson rain upon the crystal spring,
Which caught the blood in glassy ripple and
whirl,
And reddened moss and boulder.
Swift of stride,
With gold-girt brow thrown back to front the
Unseen,
The hoary giant through the jungle waste
Plunged, muttering in his beard; and on-
ward pressed
Through the deep tangle of the trackless

growth

To reach some lair, where hidden and un-
heard

His savage soul in its last strife might
cope

With God — perchance one moment visible.

A sweltering tract of jungle, breathing flame ;
A fiery silence; all the depth of heaven

One blinding sapphire !

: Watching by the cliff,
The giant brood stood waiting for the sign,

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