In the depths of this jungle one can see
Fronds of the great
Gum-trees lounging leadenly:
Like ears of elephants
Their leaves luxuriate.

In this damp and dim-lit place,
Towing their shadows like a trawl,
All kinds of fern embrace
Wetly.  All kinds of plants
Sprawl out upon each other.  All
Kinds of reptiles, kinds of snake,
Frog, lizard, salamander, newt
Maul in the clammy gloom to make
Slithering absolute.

From the sad longing of mid-day
For what did Adam yearn,
To what dank dawn look back?

The feeling of primitiveness
Is like a cloud, an endless
Endlessly darling love.
It flows away
Past reasonings of return,
Endless and endlessly.

On the far-off other bank
Of the river of memory,
There is no glade nor grove
Nor landing place nor plank
To pin this feeling down.