The Philosopher
Enough of Thought, Philosopher
Too long hast thou been dreaming
Unlightened, in this chamber drear
While summer's sun is beaming —
Space-sweeping soul, what sad refrain
Concludes thy musings once again?
" O for the time when I shall sleep
Without identity,
And never care how rain may steep
Or snow may cover me!
" No promised Heaven, these wild Desires
Could all or half fulfil;
No threathened Hell, with quenchless fires,
Subdue this quenchless will! "
— So said I, and still say the same;
— Still to my Death will say —
Three Gods within this little frame
Are warring night and day.
Heaven could not hold them all, and yet
They all are held in me
And must be mine till I forget
My present entity.
O for the time when in my breast
Their struggles will be o'er;
O for the day when I shall rest,
And never suffer more!
" I saw a Spirit standing, Man,
Where thou dost stand — an hour ago;
And round his feet, three rivers ran
Of equal depth and equal flow —
" A Golden stream, and one like blood,
And one like Sapphire, seemed to be,
But where they joined their triple flood
It tumbled in an inky sea.
" The Spirit bent his dazzling gaze*
Down on that Ocean's gloomy night,*
Then — kindling all with sudden blaze,
The glad deep sparkled wide and bright —
White as the sun; far, far more fair
Than the divided sources were! " *
— And even for that Spirit, Seer,
I've watched and sought my lifetime long;
Sought Him in Heaven, Hell, Earth and Air,
An endless search — and always wrong!
Had I but seen his glorious eye
Once light the clouds that 'wilder me,
I ne'er had raised this coward cry
To cease to think and cease to be —
I ne'er had called oblivion blest,
Nor stretching eager hands to Death
Implored to change for lifeless rest*
This sentient soul, this living breath.
O let me die, that power and will
Their cruel strife may close,
And vanquished Good, victorious Ill*
Be lost in one repose.
" The Philosopher's conclusion " has been added in pencil, apparently by the author, at the head of the poem in the manuscript.
Too long hast thou been dreaming
Unlightened, in this chamber drear
While summer's sun is beaming —
Space-sweeping soul, what sad refrain
Concludes thy musings once again?
" O for the time when I shall sleep
Without identity,
And never care how rain may steep
Or snow may cover me!
" No promised Heaven, these wild Desires
Could all or half fulfil;
No threathened Hell, with quenchless fires,
Subdue this quenchless will! "
— So said I, and still say the same;
— Still to my Death will say —
Three Gods within this little frame
Are warring night and day.
Heaven could not hold them all, and yet
They all are held in me
And must be mine till I forget
My present entity.
O for the time when in my breast
Their struggles will be o'er;
O for the day when I shall rest,
And never suffer more!
" I saw a Spirit standing, Man,
Where thou dost stand — an hour ago;
And round his feet, three rivers ran
Of equal depth and equal flow —
" A Golden stream, and one like blood,
And one like Sapphire, seemed to be,
But where they joined their triple flood
It tumbled in an inky sea.
" The Spirit bent his dazzling gaze*
Down on that Ocean's gloomy night,*
Then — kindling all with sudden blaze,
The glad deep sparkled wide and bright —
White as the sun; far, far more fair
Than the divided sources were! " *
— And even for that Spirit, Seer,
I've watched and sought my lifetime long;
Sought Him in Heaven, Hell, Earth and Air,
An endless search — and always wrong!
Had I but seen his glorious eye
Once light the clouds that 'wilder me,
I ne'er had raised this coward cry
To cease to think and cease to be —
I ne'er had called oblivion blest,
Nor stretching eager hands to Death
Implored to change for lifeless rest*
This sentient soul, this living breath.
O let me die, that power and will
Their cruel strife may close,
And vanquished Good, victorious Ill*
Be lost in one repose.
" The Philosopher's conclusion " has been added in pencil, apparently by the author, at the head of the poem in the manuscript.
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