ALAS, I CANNOT stay in the house, and home has become no home to me, for the eternal Stranger calls, he is going along the road. The sound of his footfall knocks at my breast; it pains me! The wind is up, the sea is moaning. I leave all my cares and doubts to follow the homeless tide, for the Stranger calls me, he is going along the road.
WOMAN, YOUR basket is heavy, your limbs are tired. For what distance have you set out, with what hunger of profit? The way is long and the dust is hot in the sun. See, the lake is deep and full, its water dark like a crow's eye. The banks are sloping and tender with grass. Dip your tired feet into the water. The noon-tide wind will pass its fingers through your hair; the pigeons will croon their sleep songs, the leaves will murmur the secrets that nestle in the shadows. What matters it if the hours pass and the sun sets; if the way through the desolate land be lost in the waning light. Yonder is my house, by the hedge of flowering henna; I will guide you. I will make a bed for you, and light a lamp. In the morning when the birds are roused by the stir of milking the cows, I will waken you.
