Classic Poem

I am well with the health of the world:
I have followed the beaconing lights upstream,
And I have found that all trails pass into deific seas of recuperation,
And I have not avoided any evidence that could be used against my vision,
And I have not made too much of good deeds or figured extravagantly on the future,
And I have not put crowns on saints or sinners perfect or corrupt:
No: I have only let alone that which God has let alone,
And have tried to make out after my own fashion what time and love honestly come to —
Just as I want to know what the sap in the tree comes to,
Just as I want to know what the light from the sun comes to,
Just as I want to know what art comes to in human service:
And so it is that I look forward to conclusions of joy rather than of sorrow,
And while not wishing to betray myself with fool dividends
Have felt that life is a safe investment and need not humble itself to its accusers.

The light goes out but I am not afraid of the darkness,
And gladness goes out but I am not afraid of grief,
And my friends go out but I am not afraid of being alone,
And applause goes out but I am not afraid of the popular ridicule,
And even affection goes out but I am not afraid of indifference,
And fame goes out but I am not afraid of promiscuity,
And life itself goes out but I am not afraid of death:
Yes: I stand bared, stripped to the body, stripped to the soul,
Left for lost on the outstretching pathless desert,
With the skies frowning above me and the earth rocking under my feet,
And the last cry of human salutation echoing itself away in vacuums:
Yet, whatever goes out I stay, for whatever purpose stay:
Whatever goes out I remain, unmistakable, demanding my fee:
I, demanding life and fulness of life and being paid cent for cent:
I, whatever goes out, staying here where I belong, my foot-sole planted on immovable rock.

I do not bother myself with intentions: I take intentions for granted:
I do not mind disease: I take cure for granted:
I do not mind poverty: I take riches for granted:
Nor greed, nor cruelty, nor shame, nor corruption, nor misjudgment —
No one minds these as little as I do: I take the opposites of these for granted:
And so, when you think you are my enemy I do not mind your harsh words: I take my friend for granted:
And so, when others are troubled by what they cannot explain I do not mind it: I take explanation for granted:
For the seed would be senseless to me if I did not take the harvest for granted,
And suffering would be senseless to me if I did not take relief for granted,
And wrong would be senseless to me if I did not take right for granted,
And man would be senseless to me if I did not take God for granted:
I do not mind the dark pits I who take the sunlit peaks for granted,
Even when I reach my hand into the night taking the hand of my guide for granted,
Even when I reach my soul into the unseen taking the parent soul for granted.

I am well with the health of the world:
I stay, dear world, very close to you, day and night, whatever you do:
Gaily we start out, gaily sail, gaily go into port:
For we have whispered the truth to each other: the mists are withdrawn: we are wide awake:
The puzzles unravel: the diseases unravel, the injustices unravel: despair unravels in exaltation:
I am well with the health of the world.