The lords of life, the lords of life,—- <br />I saw them pass, <br />In their own guise, <br />Like and unlike, <br />Portly and grim, — <br />Use and Surprise, <br />Surface and Dream, <br />Succession swift and spectral Wrong, <br />Temperament without a tongue, <br />And the inventor of the game <br />Omnipresent without name; — <br />Some to see, some to be guessed, <br />They marched from east to west: <br />Little man, least of all, <br />Among the legs of his guardians tall, <br />Walked about with puzzled look. <br />Him by the hand dear Nature took, <br />Dearest Nature, strong and kind, <br />Whispered, 'Darling, never mind! <br />To-morrow they will wear another face, <br />The founder thou; these are thy race!'<br /><br />Ralph Waldo Emerson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/experience-25/
