THE night is dark and warm and very still, Only the moon goes pallid and alone; The moon and I the whole wide heavens fill, And all the earth lies little, lost, unknown. I walk along the byways of my Soul, Beyond the streets where all the world may go, Until at last I reach the hidden goal Built up in strength where only I may know. For in my Soul a temple have I made, Set on a height, divine and steep and far, Nor often may I hope those floors to tread, Or reach the gates that glimmer like a star. O secret, inner shining of my dream, How clear thou risest on my soul to-night! Forth will I fare and seek the heavenly beam, And stand within the precincts of the light. And I will press beyond the curtain'd door, And up the empty aisle where no one sings; There will I fall before thee and adore, And feel the shadowy winnowing of thy wings. So will I reach thee, Spirit; for I have known Thy voice, and looked upon thy blinding eyes; And well thou knowest the world to me is grown One dimness whence thy dreamy beacons rise. Nor ask I any hope nor any end, That thus for thee I dream all day, all night; But, like the moon along the skies, I wend, Knowing no world below my borrowed light. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PASSIONATE MAN'S PILGRIMAGE by WALTER RALEIGH PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 67. AS-SAMAD by EDWIN ARNOLD TO HIS WORSHIPFULL WEL-WILLER, MAISTER EDWARD LEIGH by RICHARD BARNFIELD ON FRIENDS AND FOES by WILLIAM BLAKE A SPECK ON THE DOT by BERTON BRALEY THE POET'S VOW by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |