Faces
I have seen a face with a thousand countenances, and a face thatwas but a single countenance as if held in a mould.
I have seen a face whose sheen I could look through to the uglinessbeneath, and a face whose sheen I had to lift to see how beautifulit was.
I have seen an old face much lined with nothing, and a smooth facein which all things were graven.
I know faces, because I look through the fabric my own eye weaves,and behold the reality beneath.
Words in this poem
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- ugliness n.
- The quality or state of being ugly.
- graven p. p.
- Carved. Graven image, an idol; an object of worship carved from wood, stone, etc.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Faces is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Madman: His Parables and Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #5616; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Kahlil Gibran, Faces, in The Madman: His Parables and Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5616, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gibran-madman/faces.html, id L27306.
About this section
Faces is prose, printed in 4 paragraphs. It is part of the edition and is kept for reading, but nothing here is measured: the line breaks are the printer's, so no metre, rhyme scheme or scansion is stated.
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