I told a truth, a tragic truth
 That tore the sullen sky;
A million shuddered at my sooth
 And anarchist was I.
Red righteousness was in my word
 To winnow evil chaff;
Yet while I swung crusading sword
 I heard the devil laugh.

I framed a lie, a rainbow lie
 To glorify a thought;
And none was so surprised as I
 When fast as fire it caught.
Like honey people lapped my lie
 And peddled it abroad,
Till in a lift of sunny sky
 I saw the smile of God.

If falsehood may be best, I thought,
 To hell with verity;
Dark truth may be a cancer spot
 'Twere better not to see.
Aye, let a lie be big and bold
 Yet ripe with hope and ruth,
Beshrew me! but its heart may hold
 More virtue than the truth.