OUR lives are double: they were not designed For holding narrowly to their estate Of things material; they penetrate The region of illimitable mind And spirit, roaming free, and unconfined, In thought or dream; and somehow even Fate Half tells her secret at the boundary gate Through broken flashes or foreshadowings blind. Life hath its vision, although knowledge fails: We stand like those who, from a lofty place, Discern at times the gleam of sunlit sails, Or think they do, far off, on ocean's face, When o'er the mist the fitful wind prevails, And blows it backward for a little space. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SERMON AT CLEVEDON; GOOD FRIDAY by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 51 by ALFRED TENNYSON MAY DAY by ADELAIDE A. ANDREWS FRIDAY NIGHT by ISIDORE G. ASCHER THE TROUBADOUR by HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS EPITAPH by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES |