Sonnets from a Lock Box V

In such a cell with compass and with scale Some quaint geographer might subtly trap The oceans and the earth into a map, Painting the sea and sky with colors pale,

Embellished well with many a quaint design, The elephant, the bullock and the ape, The apple, the corn, the winepress and the grape, The battle axe, the frigate and the mine.

Lo, now, we see the tabulated scheme Of all the earth; its diagram of story; But not its mysteries of pain and dream, Its love, its pride, its passion and its glory.

So Fortunes lie on paper and make no sound, But with its seasons still the earth turns round.