Being but men

Being but men, we walked into the trees / Being but men, we walked into the trees / Afraid, letting our syllables be soft / For fear of waking the rooks, / For fear of coming / Noiselessly into a world of wings and cries. // If we were children we might climb, / Catch the rooks sleeping, and break no twig, / And, after the soft ascent, / Thrust out our heads above the branches / To wonder at the unfailing stars. // Out of confusion, as the way is, / And the wonder that man knows, / Out of the chaos would come bliss. // That, then, is loveliness, we said, / Children in wonder watching the stars, / Is the aim and the end. // Being but men, we walked into the trees.