Four Modern Poems , opus 34

I know the man without a soul:
He is happy as the day,
He is happy, people say.

He is happy - so they say:
But they do not see him roll
On the ground in very dole.

All along the ground in dole,
When no one is watching, he
Bites the ground in agony.

He bites the ground in agony:
But with people he is whole:
I know the man without a soul!

[When]1 Death to either shall come, -
I pray it be first to me,-
Be happy as ever at home,
If so, as I wish, it be.

Possess thy [heart]2, my own;
And sing to the child on thy knee,
[Or]3 read to thyself alone
The songs [that I]4 made for thee.

Christ was born in Mary's pain;
Mary anguished, Christ was slain,
Truth ascended from a tomb.
They murdered Jesus on the Cross,
Mary's flesh that Mary bore;
Hers the bleeding side they tore,
Hers the death, and hers the loss.
God is not by flesh confined,
God was never crucified,
Only Mary's Baby died
For the hope of humankind.

I'm a lean dog, a keen dog, a wild dog, and lone;
I'm a rough dog, a tough dog, hunting on my own;
I'm a bad dog, a mad dog, teasing silly sheep;
I love to sit and bay the moon, to keep fat souls from sleep.

I'll never be a lap dog, licking dirty feet,
A sleek dog, a meek dog, cringing for my meat,
Not for me the fireside, the well-filled plate,
But shut the door, and sharp stone, and cuff, and kick, and hate.

Not for me the other dogs, running by my side,
Some have run a short while, but none of them would bide.
O mine is still the lone trail, the hard trail, the best,
Wide wind, and wild stars, and the hunger of the quest!