Not in vain, O brother, hath soul the spurs of enterprize, Nor aimlessly panteth for adventure, waiting at the cave of mystery: Not in vain the cup of curiosity, sweet and richly spiced, Is ruby to the sight, and ambrosia to the taste, and redolent with all fragrance: Thou shalt drink, and deeply, filling the mind with marvels; Thou shalt watch no more, lingering, disappointed of thy hope; Thou shalt roam where road is none, a traveller untrammelled, Speeding at a wish, emancipate, to where the stars are suns! Count, count your hopes, heirs of immortality and love; And hear my kindred faith, and turn again to bless me. For lo, my trust is strong to dwell in many worlds, And cull of many brethren there, sweet knowledge ever new: I yearn for realms where fancy shall be filled, and the ecstasies of freedom shall be felt, And the soul reign gloriously, risen to its royal destinies: I look to recognize again, through the beautiful mask of their perfection, The dear familiar faces I have somewhile loved on earth: I long to talk with grateful tongue of storms and perils past, And praise the mighty Pilot that hath steered us through the rapids: He shall be the focus of it all, the very heart of gladness,-- My soul is athirst for God, the God who dwelt in Man! Prophet, priest, and king, the sacrifice, the substitute, the Saviour, Rapture of the blessed in the hunted One of earth, the Pardoner in the victim; How many centuries of joy concentrate in that theme, How often a Methusalem might count his thousand years, and leave it unexhausted! And lo, the heavenly Jerusalem, with all its gates one pearl, That pearl of countless price, the door by which we entered,-- Come, tread the golden streets, and join that glorious throng, The happy ones of heaven and earth, ten thousand times ten thousand; Hark, they sing that song,--and cast their crowns before Him; Their souls alight with love,--Glory, and Praise, and Immortality!-- Veil thine eyes: no son of time may see that holy vision, And even the seraph at thy side hath covered his face with wings.