Soothsay. Behold, with rod twy-serpented, <br />Hermes the prophet, twining in one power <br />The woman with the man. Upon his head <br />The cloudy cap, wherewith he hath in dower <br />The cloud's own virtue--change and counterchange, <br />To show in light, and to withdraw in pall, <br />As mortal eyes best bear. His lineage strange <br />From Zeus, Truth's sire, and maiden May--the all- <br />Illusive Nature. His fledged feet declare <br />That 'tis the nether self transdeified, <br />And the thrice-furnaced passions, which do bear <br />The poet Olympusward. In him allied <br />Both parents clasp; and from the womb of Nature <br />Stern Truth takes flesh in shows of lovely feature.<br /><br />Francis Thompson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hermes-3/
