Stephen Crane: "XXXV [A Man Saw a Ball of Gold in the Sky]"

A man saw a ball of gold in the sky;
He climbed for it,
And eventually he achieved it–
It was clay.

Now this is the strange part:
When the man went to the earth
And looked again,
Lo, there was a ball of gold.
Now this is the strange part:
It was a ball of gold.
Aye, by the heavens, it was a ball of gold.

"XXXV [A Man Saw a Ball of Gold in the Sky]" by Stephen Crane, from The Black Riders and Other Lines. © Forgotten Books, 2012.  

Image credit: "Abstract CGI motion graphics and animated background with spinning golden earth," by VJLoops (originally color).