| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1480. Written at the End of a Book |
| | | By Langdon Elwyn Mitchell (“John Philip Varley”) |
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| THIS is the end of the book | |
| Written by God. | |
| I am the earth he took, | |
| I am the sod, | |
| The wood and iron which he struck | 5 |
| With his sounding rod. | |
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| I am the reed that he blew: | |
| Once quietly | |
| By the riverside I grew, | |
| Till one day he | 10 |
| Rooted me up and breathed a new | |
| Delirium in me. | |
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| Would he had left me there, | |
| Where all is still; | |
| To lean on the heavy air, | 15 |
| Silent, at will | |
| To be, and joy, yet not to share, | |
| The avenging thrill. | |
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| I am the reed that he blew, | |
| Which yet he blows, | 20 |
| (For this is his breath too, | |
| And these, like those, | |
| Are his own words blown unto you, | |
| —Hearken if you choose!) | |
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| This is the end of the book; | 25 |
| And, if you read | |
| Ought that is evil, why, look, | |
| I but obeyed, | |
| —When deep his voice in my ear shook, | |
| I blew as he said! | 30 |
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