I knew a man by sight,
A blameless wight,
Who, for aa year or more,
Had daily passed my door,
Yet converse none had had with him.

I met him in a lane,
Him and his cane,
About three miles from home,
Where I had chanced to roam,
And volumes stared at him, and he at me.

In a more distant place
I glimpsed his face
And bowed instinctively
Starting he bowed at me
Bowed simultaneously and pass along

Next, in a foreign land
I grasped his hand.
And had a social chat,
About this thing and that,
As I had known him well a thousand years.

Late in a wilderness
I shared his mess.
For he had hardships seen,
And I a wanderer been.
He was my bosom friend, and I was his.

And as. methinks. shall all.
Both great and small.
That ever lived on earth
Early or late their birth.
Stranger and foe. one day each other know.

−Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817−1862) was an American essayist, poet, historian and philosopher, best known for his book Walden that talks about simple living in natural surroundings. Although he never rejected civilisation completely, he advocated a life that integrated nature and culture.

1. starting: make a sudden jerky movement from surprise
2. wilderness: an uncultivated, uninhabited, and inhospitable region
3. mess: (here) a confusing or difficult situation
4. bosom friend: a very close friend
5. methinks: an old word meaning 'I think'
6. foe: enemy