The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth With Sixteen Illustrations. By Philip Gilbert Hamerton |
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THE CONFINES OF THOUGHT. |
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 | The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth |  |
195
THE CONFINES OF THOUGHT.
We cannot look before us and behind
At once; and so the visions of the mind
Are partial in their reaching, and confined.
At once; and so the visions of the mind
Are partial in their reaching, and confined.
The spirit gives one-sided evidence
Of things that are; but the extended sense,
Which is peculiar to Omniscience,
Of things that are; but the extended sense,
Which is peculiar to Omniscience,
In its abstraction needs not to forget
Surrounding things, and has no limit set,
And in it all existences are met.
Surrounding things, and has no limit set,
And in it all existences are met.
Now this reflection occupies my mind,
And if I roam the universe to find
New images, they come, but uncombined.
And if I roam the universe to find
New images, they come, but uncombined.
196
They come, but breaking wildly from the laws
Which chain them in existence; and I pause
On each a moment separately, because
Which chain them in existence; and I pause
On each a moment separately, because
I am short-sighted as the honey bee,
That knows each single flower, but cannot see
A landscape, or a garden, or a tree.
That knows each single flower, but cannot see
A landscape, or a garden, or a tree.
I cannot see creation as a whole;
I look before me, but a human soul
Is backward blinder than a dim-eyed mole.
I look before me, but a human soul
Is backward blinder than a dim-eyed mole.
I upward gaze in fancy to the light
Of stars, but even the penetrative sight
Perceives not half the glory of the night.
Of stars, but even the penetrative sight
Perceives not half the glory of the night.
It saw some paintings on the clouded dome
Of heaven, when Light adorned his royal home
With frescoes rich and borders polychrome,
Of heaven, when Light adorned his royal home
With frescoes rich and borders polychrome,
But could not grasp the scope of his design;
Saw one by one each tint and graceful line,
But had not skill those pictures to combine.
Saw one by one each tint and graceful line,
But had not skill those pictures to combine.
We look above, forgetting all below,
Yet under us primæval forests grow,
And there the southern constellations glow.
Yet under us primæval forests grow,
And there the southern constellations glow.
197
Cathedrals have their crypts, and Earth her graves
Of fossil kingdoms, and a tyrant paves
Whole provinces with skeletons of slaves.
Of fossil kingdoms, and a tyrant paves
Whole provinces with skeletons of slaves.
Yet we, unless by effort, never dream
Of these; and even then the transient gleam
Of what things are soon fades to what they seem.
Of these; and even then the transient gleam
Of what things are soon fades to what they seem.
I tried to grasp the universe of things
At once, but vainly. Now my spirit sings
Her disappointment, and with folded wings
At once, but vainly. Now my spirit sings
Her disappointment, and with folded wings
Reverts to themes that were her former scorn,
And walking on the earth where she was born,
Picks in the stubble scattered grains of corn.
And walking on the earth where she was born,
Picks in the stubble scattered grains of corn.
| The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth | |