Brahma
If
the
red
slayer
think
he
slays,
Or
if
the
slain
think
he
is
slain,
They
know
not
well
the
subtle
ways
I
keep,
and
pass,
and
turn
again.
Far
or
forgot
to
me
is
near;
Shadow
and
sunlight
are
the
same;
The
vanished
gods
to
me
appear;
And
one
to
me
are
shame
and
fame.
They
reckon
ill
who
leave
me
out;
When
me
they
fly,
I
am
the
wings;
I
am
the
doubter
and
the
doubt,
And
I
the
hymn
the
Brahmin
sings.
The
strong
gods
pine
for
my
abode,
And
pine
in
vain
the
sacred
Seven;
But
thou,
meek
lover
of
the
good!
Find
me,
and
turn
thy
back
on
heaven.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson, (born May 25, 1803, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.—died April 27, 1882, Concord, Massachusetts), American lecturer, poet, and essayist, the leading exponent of New England Transcendentalism. Emerson died on April 27, 1882, in Concord. His beliefs and his idealism were strong influences on the work of his protégé Henry David Thoreau and his contemporary Walt Whitman, as well as numerous others. His writings are considered major documents of 19th-century American literature, religion and thought.