Classic Poem

No no! he said,
only a subtle wind.
Hope inside the breaking heart
budded to a sound.

My feet turned trembly,
the road was crooked.
I understood
the more I climbed the weaker I got.

I said, I'm staying here.
just give me this rock.
The snow fell all the more
and loneliness told the story:
there's no ending here.

The more I climbed the fewer the trees,
just bare stumps.
In doubt and growing weary—
alas, one must accept it.

Ready I was to die
when I reached the shining peak.
Again I stopped; my heart beat—
I grasped the impulse to live.

No no! he said,
set your foot
at the final twist
of the cord of life;

climb till you die
your heart bursting at last,
after you've looked and taken
the measurement of the height.