O Ariel, tricksy and dainty,
You spirit of finest air,
That was given the first man Adam
The breath of his mouth to bear;
Well suited the pair in Eden
Your happy, wandering will;
But the world is wider and sadder,
And you are a trifler still.
O Hermes, with winged sandals,
O teacher of tongues and arts;
That came to the craving nations
As the world grew in their hearts;
Unbarring the gates of learning
To stores for the people's need,
And teaching the cloistered bookmen
To write for the world to read.
Fly swiftly the wide earth over,
O Hermes, whose feet are wings!
Before you the darkness lightens,
Behind you the desert sings.
But the world spins faster and faster,
And blessing must strive with ban,
And where shall we find a swifter
To carry the words of man?
On him in the latter stages
(And his signals all are dumb)
The train of the thundering ages,
The ends of the world, are come.
Forth on the wild steam-horses
He rides to the last affray;
But whom shall he send before him,
And who shall prepare his way?
His cry came up to the Watcher
That sits for the help of men,
And He said, "I must send another,
Or the world must halt again."
So He sought in the host of spirits
The spirit that swiftest ran,
And "Go," He said to the Lightning,
"And carry the words of man!"
