Page:Writings of Henry David Thoreau (1906) v7.djvu/501

1845-47] And something to burn,

And above all no need to return.

Then they who come back,

Say, have they not failed,

Wherever they've ridden,

Or steamed it, or sailed?

All your grass hay'd,

All your debts paid,

All your wills made;

Then you might as well have stay'd,

For are you not dead,

Only not buried?

The way unto "to-day,"

The railroad to "here,"

They never 'll grade that way

Nor shorten it, I fear.

There are plenty of depots

All the world o'er,

But not a single station

At a man's door.

If he would get near

To the secret of things,

He'll not have to hear

When the engine bell rings.

Exaggeration! was ever any virtue attributed to a man without exaggeration? was ever any vice, without infinite exaggeration? Do we not exaggerate ourselves to ourselves, or do we often recognize ourselves for the