noon
What was the full round of the circle whose segment only he beheld ? In the end , the ultimate , final end of all , what was left ? Yes , good issued from this crisis , untouched , unassailable , undefiled . Men -- motes in the sunshine -- perished , were shot down in the very noon of life , hearts were broken , little children started in life lamentably handicapped ; young girls were brought to a life of shame ; old women died in the heart of life for lack of food . In that little , isolated group of human insects , misery , death , and anguish spun like a wheel of fire . BUT THE WHEAT REMAINED . Untouched , unassailable , undefiled , that mighty world-force , that nourisher of nations , wrapped in Nirvanic calm , indifferent to the human swarm , gigantic , resistless , moved onward in its appointed grooves .