“Each Whining Thing (1929)When stripèd snakes shall creep upon usAnd the nervous screams of birdsMake silent all the fountains and the orchards and when theseHave caught upon the wing each wingThat flutters from the skyThen shall I and then shall IRip out the smiles from garden walksTransform the minnows into hawksTarantulas and beesThen shall I and then shall IUnmake each whining thing.”

“PoemThings will go on like this forEver. NoThing shall shatter. NoTree. NoBlade of grass shall beThere. NoThing butBlue rocks shallFill the valley where ISleep.Things shall go on like this forEver.Things shall be unBroken.No action shall shatter. NoThing shall escape and noBody shall shatter ideas and noBeing shall shatter. NoTree. NoBlade of grass shallBe present toWitness theIncident.********Everything shall be always thus. NoThing shall be turned or moved.Touched.All shall forever be so.”

“the sky here's very strange. I often have the sensation when I look at it that it's a solid thing up there, protecting us from what's behind . . . [from] nothing, I suppose. Just darkness. Absolute night.”

“The idea that at each successive moment he was deeper into the Sahara than he had been the moment before, that he was leaving behind all familiar things, this constant consideration kept him in a state of pleasurable agitation.”

“They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

“... If the dead can come back to this earth and move unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night—amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours—always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or if the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.”

“When the Whispering Mountain shall scream aloudAnd the castle of Malyn ride on a cloud,Then Malyn's lord shall have and holdThe lost that is found, the harp of gold.Then Fig-hat Ben shall wear a shroud,Then shall the despoiler, that was so proud,Plunge headlong down from Devil's Leap;Then shall the Children from darkness creep,And the men of the glen avoid disaster,And the Harp of Teirtu find her master.”