The Greater Cats

The greater cats with golden

Stare out between the bars.

Deserts are there, and the different skies,

And night with different stars.

They prowl the aromatic hill,

And mate as fiercely as they kill,

To roam, to live, to drink their fill;

But this beyond their wit know I:

Man loves a little, and for long shall die.

Their kind across the desert

Where tulips spring from stones,

Not knowing they will suffer

Or vultures pick their bones.

Their strength's eternal in their sight,

They overtake the deer in flight,

And in their arrogance they smite;

But I am sage, if they are strong:

Man's love is transient as his death is long.

Yet oh what powers to deceive!

My wit is turned to faith,

And at this moment I

In love, and scout at death.

I came from nowhere, and shall

Strong, steadfast, swift, eternally:

I am a lion, a stone, a tree,

And as the Polar star in

Is fixed my constant heart on thee.

Ah, may I stay forever

With lions, tigers, leopards, and their kind.