I Went Down Into The Desert

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Title:     I Went Down Into The Desert
Author: Vachel Lindsay [More Titles by Lindsay]

I went down into the desert
To meet Elijah--
Arisen from the dead.
I thought to find him in an echoing cave;
_For so my dream had said_.

I went down into the desert
To meet John the Baptist.
I walked with feet that bled,
Seeking that prophet lean and brown and bold.
_I spied foul fiends instead_.

I went down into the desert
To meet my God.
By him be comforted.
I went down into the desert
To meet my God.
_And I met the devil in red_.

I went down into the desert
To meet my God.
O, Lord my God, awaken from the dead!
I see you there, your thorn-crown on the ground,
I see you there, half-buried in the sand.
I see you there, your white bones glistening, bare,
_The carrion-birds a-wheeling round your head_.

[The end]
Vachel Lindsay's poem: I Went Down Into The Desert

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