"Be near me when I fade away, To point the term of human strife, And on the low dark verge of life, The twilight of eternal day."
The idea is sustained, that we shall go through the darkness of death, when Time will be lost, into the dawning light of Eternity; and the Poet would have his friend be near him at this translation.
Dare we indeed challenge the dead to inspect us? Have we "no inner vileness" that we would not have them discover? Would the Poet be lessened in Hallam's esteem and affection, when "some hidden shame" was exposed? No,
"There must be wisdom with great Death: The dead shall look me thro' and thro'."
"They watch, like God, the rolling hours With larger other eyes than ours, To make allowance for us all."
He complains of his own inability to love Hallam as he ought, that is, worthily; because, if he did so, he would be equal to his friend,
whereas his words are words only, the "froth of thought."
The Spirit of love reproves this self-accusation:
"Thou canst not move me from thy side, Nor human frailty do me wrong."
There is no ideal of excellence, which we may conceive, that will ensure our attaining to it:
"not the sinless years That breathed beneath the Syrian blue"--
not the life of Christ, in the clear atmosphere of Palestine, keeps any spirit "wholly true" to that pattern of perfection.
So be not "like an idle girl," fretting over little faults--"flecks of sin." But wait, thy wealth will be gathered in--thy worth shown
"When Time hath sunder'd shell from pearl"--
when the flesh has left the Soul free from its contaminating influence.
whose youth was noisy and foolish. Are we then to conclude from his example, that had there been no wild oats sown, there scarcely would have come
If we ventured to name such a doctrine among the old, who have "outlived heats of youth," would we preach it to the young, who still "eddy round and round?"
Hold fast what is good, and define it well; and take care that "divine Philosophy" does not exceed her legitimate bound and become
by advocating sin as the path to sanctity.
This Poem expresses a hope in Universalism--
"that somehow good Will be the final goal of ill"--
that natural propensities, wilful sins, imperfect faith, and inherited weakness, may all find a pardonable solution.