Turn of civilization

At the end of his wonderful essay on “Art and Sacrament,” the Welsh poet and painter David Jones included a fragment that he wrote and rewrote over several decades. Here is wisdom:

I said, ah! what shall I write? I inquired up and down (he’s tricked before with his manifold lurking places). I looked for his symbol at the door. I have looked for a long while at the textures and contours I have run a hand over the trivial intersections. I have journeyed among the dead forms causation projects from pillar to pylon. I have tired the eyes of the mind regarding the colours and lights. I felt for his wounds in nozzles and containers. I have wondered for the automatic devices . . . I have tested the inane pattersn without prejudice. I have been on my guard not to condemn the unfamiliar . . . for it is easy to miss him at the turn of a civilization . . . .