As far as the East
is set from the West


As far as the East is set from the West,
As far as the North from the South,
So far is my breast set from thy breast
As far as the North from the South,
And my mouth from thy mouth.
I in the East and thou in the West
And nought between us but deep unrest

In the East there liveth unresting pain,
And pain in the sullen West,
And the sea keeps peace between us twain,
And the sea is never at rest
For the winds that torture a barren main,
Are full of the messages twixt us twain

Bound hands stretched from the sullen West,
To fettered hands in the East;
And Love, a troubled and wearied guest
And Love, a hopeless priest
Building his altar in east and west,
And two hearts hoping aye for the best

Shall my eyes always turn to the west
As thine toward the east
Can a love that found its spring in the west
Die in the glaring east,
Shall we each find comfort where we be,
With never a thought for over the sea.

Shade that lieth equally,
On Western sea and Eastern sea,
Who can tell what the end can be