Dust

Touch not with irreverent hands,

Nor look upon with eyes of stone;

In the grass Queen Sheba stands

Beside the grave of Solomon.

Dust of Adam lifts and falls

For ever; Helen is a flower;

And the Babylonian walls

In an hour-glass tell the hour.

Every moment is a balm;

Every moment is a wound;

Every silence is a psalm;

Every field is holy ground.

Touch not with irreverent hand,

Nor look upon with eyes of stone;

In a falling grain of sand

Is the strength of Babylon.