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Cameron, Norman - Though many men had passed the ford, not one
Identifier
002597
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Has just a ring of Beowulf's out of body fights tooA description of the experience
Norman Cameron – Collected Poems
Though many men had passed the ford, not one
Had ever seen that jeering water ghost
Denying their true conquest of the stream.
But I, who saw him smile behind a stone
Stopped, challenged him to justify his boast
Then came the fight, exhausting as a dream
With stuff not quite impalpable. He sank
Sighing at last, in a small shrinking pile.
But my victorious paean changed to fright
To see once more the pale curve of his flank
There in the water, and his endless smile
Broaden behind the stone. No use to fight
Better to give the place a holy name
Go on with less ambition than I came