D. H. Lawrence: "Maximus"

God is older than the sun and moon
and the eye cannot behold him
nor voice describe him.

But a naked man, a stranger, leaned on the gate
with his cloak over his arm, waiting to be asked in.
So I called him: Come in, if you will!––
He came in slowly, and sat down by the hearth.
I said to him: And what is your name?––
He looked at me without answer, but such a loveliness
entered me, I smiled to myself, saying: He is a God!
So he said: Hermes!

God is older than the sun and moon
and the eye cannot behold him
nor the voice describe him:
and still, this is the God Hermes, sitting by my hearth.



"Maximus" by D. H. Lawrence, from The Complete Poems of D. H. Lawrence. © Wordsworth Editions, 1994.

Image credit: "Hermes," oil on canvas, by Salvador Dali, 1981 (originally color).