The Inventor

by Rudyard Kipling

                                          R. W. Emerson.

Time and Space decreed his lot,
     But little Man was quick to note:
When Time and Space said Man might not,
     Bravely he answered, "Nay! I mote."

I looked on old New England.
     Time and Space stood fast.
Men built altars to Distance
     At every mile they passed.

Yet sleek with oil, a Force was hid
Making mock of all they did,
Ready at the appointed hour
     To yield up to Prometheus
The secular and well-drilled Power
     The Gods secreted thus.

And over high Wantastiquet
     Emulous my lightnings ran,
Unregarded but afret,
     To fall in with my plan.

I beheld two ministries,
     One of air and one of earth --
At a thought I married these,
     And my New Age came to birth!

For rarely my purpose errs
     Though oft it seems to pause,
And rods and cylinders
     Obey my planets' laws.

Oil I drew from the well,
     And Franklin's spark from its blue;
Time and Distance fell,
     And Man went forth anew.

On the prairie and in the street
     So long as my chariots roll
I bind wings to Adam's feet,
     And, presently, to his soul!