Classic Poem

They went singing in the morning:
" The pure shall conquer heaven!
Glory! glory! glory! "

" Am I pure? " the youth asked himself ...

His young body was fresh from the bath,
Sap climbed in him: sunrise laughed:
His soul danced ...

Then he remembered the girl bathing in the flume,
And her outstretched arms, and opening singing mouth.

His grey robe sat like steel on his naked shoulders,
And chains bound his ankles.

" What have I to do with these solemn ones? " he asked ...
" Are they swimmers, and runners, and wielders of the axe?
I am cheated of my youth. "

In dark revolt he walked with the pilgrims along the climbing trail:
But they went singing in the morning:
" The pure shall conquer heaven!
Glory! glory! glory! "