My son, with weariness thou seemest spent, And toiling on the dusty road all day, Weary and pale, yet with inconstant step, Hither and thither turning,--seekest thou To find aught lost, or what dark care pursues thee? If thou art weary, rest, if hungry, eat.
Oh rather, father, let me ask of thee What is it I do seek, what thing I lack? These many days I've left my father's hall, Forth driven by insatiable desire, That, like the wind, now gently murmuring, Enticed me forward with its own sweet voice Through many-leaved woods, and valleys deep, Yet ever fled before me. Then with sound Stronger than hurrying tempest, seizing me, Forced me to fly its power. Forward still, Bound by enchanted ties, I seek its source. Sometimes it is a something I have lost, Known long since, before I bent my steps Toward this beautiful broad plane of earth. Sometimes it is a spirit yet unknown, In whose dim-imaged features seem to smile The dear delight of these high-mansioned thoughts, That sometimes visit me. Like unto mine Her lineaments appear, but beautiful, As of a sister in a far-off world, Waiting to welcome me. And when I think To reach and clasp the figure, it is gone, And some ill-omened ghastly vision comes To bid beware, and not too curiously Demand the secrets of that distant world, Whose shadow haunts me.--On the waves below But now I gazed, warmed with the setting sun, Who sent his golden streamers to my feet, It seemed a pathway to a world beyond, And I looked round, if that my spirit beckoned That I might follow it.
Dreams all, my son. Yes, even so I dreamed, And even so was thwarted. You must learn To dream another long and troublous dream. The dream of life. And you shall think you wake, And think the shadows substance, love and hate, Exchange and barter, joy, and weep, and dance, And this too shall be dream.
Oh who can say Where lies the boundary? What solid things That daily mock our senses, shall dissolve Before the might within, while shadowy forms Freeze into stark reality, defying The force and will of man. These forms I see, They may go with me through eternity, And bless or curse with ceaseless company, While yonder man, that I met yesternight, Where is he now? He passed before my eyes, He is gone, but these stay with me ever.
