of Time, "I knew not yet the gauge Nor wore the manacles of Space. I felt it in some other clime I saw it in some other place. -'Twas when the heavenly house I trod, And lay upon the breast of God. 238 SELF-DEPENDENCE. WEARY of myself, and sick of asking At the vessel's prow I stand, which bears me And a look of passionate desire O'er the sea and to the stars send: "Ye who from my childhood up have calm'd me, Calm me, ah, compose me to the end. 66 Ah, once more," I cried, "ye Stars, ye Waters, On my heart your mighty charm renew: Still, still let me, as I gaze upon you, Feel my soul becoming vast like you.” From the intense, clear, star-sown vault of heaven, Over the lit sea's unquiet way, In the rustling night-air came the answer "Wouldst thou be as these are? Live as they. "Unaffrighted by the silence round them, Undistracted by the sights they see, These demand not that the things without them Yield them love, amusement, sympathy. "And with joy the stars perform their shining, And the sea its long moon-silver'd roll. For alone they live, nor pine with noting All the fever of some differing soul. "Bounded by themselves, and unobservant O air-born Voice! long since, severely clear A cry like thine in my own heart I hear. "Resolve to be thyself: and know, that he Who finds himself, loses his misery." |