The bearer of evil tidings, <br />When he was halfway there, <br />Remembered that evil tidings <br />Were a dangerous thing to bear. <br /> <br />So when he came to the parting <br />Where one road led to the throne <br />And one went off to the mountains <br />And into the wild unknown, <br /> <br />He took the one to the mountains. <br />He ran through the Vale of Cashmere, <br />He ran through the rhodendrons, <br />Till he came to the land of Pamir. <br /> <br />And there in a precipice valley <br />A girl of his age he met <br />Took him home to her bower <br />Or he might be running yet. <br /> <br />She taught him the tribe's religion: <br />How, ages and ages since, <br />A princess en route from China <br />To marry a Persian prince <br /> <br />Had been found with child; and her army <br />Had come to a troubled halt. <br />And though a god was the father <br />And nobody else was at fault, <br /> <br />It had seemed discreet to remain there <br />And neither go on nor go back. <br />So they stayed and declared a village <br />There in the land of the Yak. <br /> <br />And the child that came of the princess <br />Established a royal line, <br />And his mandates were given heed to <br />Because he was born divine. <br /> <br />And that was why there were people <br />On one Himalayan shelf: <br />And the bearer of evil tidings <br />Decided to stay there himself. <br /> <br />At least he had this in common <br />With the race he chose to adopt: <br />They had both of them had their reasons <br />For stopping where they had stopped. <br /> <br />As for his evil tidings, <br />Belshazzar's overthrow, <br />Why hurry to tell Belshazzar <br />What soon enough he would know?<br /><br />Robert Lee Frost<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-bearer-of-evil-tidings/
