9. Modernities

SMALL knowledge have we that by knowledge met

May not some day be quaint as any told

In almagest or chronicle of old,

Whereat we smile because we are as yet

The last—though not the last who may forget

What cleavings and abrasions manifold

Have marked an armor that was never scrolled

Before for human glory and regret.

With infinite unseen enemies in the way

We have encountered the intangible,

To vanquish where our fathers, who fought well,

Scarce had assumed endurance for a day;

Yet we shall have our darkness, even as they,

And there shall be another tale to tell.