Not only sands and gravels 
Were once more on their travels, 
But gulping muddy gallons 
Great boulders off their balance 
Bumped heads together dully 
And started down the gully. 
Whole capes caked off in slices. 
I felt my standpoint shaken 
In the universal crisis. 
But with one step backward taken 
I saved myself from going. 
A world torn loose went by me. 
Then the rain stopped and the blowing, 
And the sun came out to dry me.
Robert Frost
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/one-step-backward-taken/