I am the Reaper

William Ernest Henley(1849–1903)

1888

I am the Reaper.All things with heedful hookSilent I gather.Pale roses touched with the spring,Tall corn in summer,Fruits rich with autumn, and frail winter blossoms—Reaping, still reaping—All things with heedful hookTimely I gather.

I am the Sower.All the unbodied lifeRuns through my seed-sheet.Atom with atom wed,Each quickening the other,Fall through my hands, ever changing, still changeless.Ceaselessly sowing,Life, incorruptible life,Flows from my seed-sheet.

Maker and breaker,I am the ebb and the flood,Here and Hereafter.Sped through the tangle and coilOf infinite nature,Viewless and soundless I fashion all being.Taker and giver,I am the womb and the grave,The Now and the Ever.

1875

From Poems by William Ernest Henley, via the English Wikisource transcription.

Public domainThis poem is in the public domain. You may read it, copy it, recite it and publish it without asking anyone.