IN THIS GREAT Universe

The giant wheel of pain revolves;

Stars and planets split up;

Sparks of fiery dust, far-flung,

Scatter at terrific speed

Enveloping in network primordial

The anguish of existence.

In the armoury of pain

Spreading on the stretches of consciousness, aglow,

Clang the instruments of torture;

Bleeding wounds gape open.

Small is man's body,

How immense his strength of suffering.

At the concourse of creation and chaos

To what end does he hold up his cup of fiery drink

In the weird festival of the gods

Drunk in their titan power,O why

Filling his body of clay

Sweeps the red delirious tide of tears?

To each moment he brings endless value

From his unconquerable will.

Man's sacrificial offering

His burning physical agony

Can anything compare,

In the whole fiery dedication of the suns and stars?

Such unyielding wealth of prowess,

Such fearless endurance,

Such indifference to death,

Triumphal march as this, in hundreds,

Trampling embers underfoot

To reach the limit of sorrow

Is there anywhere such quest, nameless, radiant,

Such pilgrimage together, from road to road?

Such pure waters of service, breaking through igneous rocks,

Such endless store of love?