In Egypt's Land

I cannot hold the river in my hand;

Nor meet the malice of the Pyramid;

I do not know where robber Time is hid,

Nor can I sift his secret from the sand.

O, that there is a secret I know well,

I cannot see, I do not understand;

There is revolt in this despotic land,

And in the desert, space is citadel.

There is a line of courage in this light,

A sword of anger striking this despair,

And in the nothing, everything begun:

I see the writhing river from a height,

Time, wounded, staggers in the flaming air,

And vainly frowns the everlasting stone.