Psalms of the Brethren CLXXVIII: Yasoja

Lo! here a man with frame so pale and worn;
Like knotted stems of cane his joints, and sharp
Th’ emaciated network of his veins.
In food and drink austerely temperate,
His spirit neither crushed nor desolate.

In the great forest, in the mighty woods,
Touched though I be by gadfly and by gnat,
I yet would roam, like warrior-elephant
In van of battle, mindful, vigilant.

Alone a man is even as Brahma.
And as the angels if he have one mate.
Like to a village is a group of three.
Like to a noisy crowd if more there be.