The Kings Pilgrimage

King Solomon and the ants — As they slept in the middle of the night, The little folk of the grass — (There were so many) — Twelve legged on their way to the Earth’s delight!

As high as the clouds and then, low as my shoe, My kingdom moved on every way but one, Until the stars turned out, and I awoke at dawn, In the search of the riches I didn’t know I had lost, In the dust and the dead leaves, I found all my gold was bought!

• Rudyard Kipling