Of the `stark fact that the mind
Appears to be infi nite
And to have nothing to do
With the scientifi c "law"
Of dispersion' -- I don't know,
I'll have to write in reply,
Maybe it is infi nite
As the world of numbers is,
His purlieu. Immortal, though?
Why, it's an activity,
Ends it -- the anesthetist
Interrupts it, telling you
Mildly, `Let me see how wide
You can open your mouth, now,'
And the next thing is a fl ood
Of bright gray light, followed not
By immersion in darkness,
But a moment's consciousness
That the light's gone; and then
Not even darkness. Nothing.
Where is this nothing?... Think how
When a reader fi nishes
His reading, as an event
Of his attention, it is
A memory -- a diff erent
Event. His book's an object,