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But lo! an ancient of the morn o' the earth—
Hoary as winter, imperishable as stone,
O'ershadowing as a cloud which all alone

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Glooms half a realm for half a summer day—
Leaned on his spear, and watched his grandson lay
The Ark's foundations.
This was that sublime
Presentment of humanity and time,
Methuselah—the living man, whose eyes
Had seen the living Adam. Centuries
And nations near the figure of his life
Were dwarfed to pigmy images.
A strife
Of wrath and sorrow raged within his mind.