"And what are things eternal?--powers depart," The grey-haired Wanderer stedfastly replied, Answering the question which himself had asked, "Possessions vanish, and opinions change, And passions hold a fluctuating seat: 70 But, by the storms of circumstance unshaken, And subject neither to eclipse nor[309] wane, Duty exists;--immutably survive, For our support, the measures and the forms, Which an abstract intelligence supplies; 75 Whose kingdom is, where time and space are not.[DX] Of other converse which mind, soul, and heart, Do, with united urgency, require, What more that may not perish?--Thou, dread source, Prime, self-existing cause and end of all 80 That in the scale of being fill their place; Above our human region, or below, Set and sustained;--thou, who didst wrap the cloud Of infancy around us, that thyself, Therein, with our simplicity awhile 85 Might'st hold, on earth, communion undisturbed;[DY] Who from the anarchy of dreaming sleep, Or from its death-like void, with punctual care, And touch as gentle as the morning light, Restor'st us, daily, to the powers of sense 90 And reason's stedfast rule--thou, thou alone Art everlasting, and the blessed Spirits, Which thou includest, as the sea her waves: For adoration thou endur'st; endure For consciousness the motions of thy will; 95 For apprehension those transcendent truths Of the pure intellect, that stand as laws (Submission constituting strength and power) Even to thy Being's infinite majesty! This universe shall pass away--a work[310] 100 Glorious! because the shadow of thy might, A step, or link, for intercourse with thee. Ah! if the time must come, in which my feet No more shall stray where meditation leads, By flowing stream, through wood, or craggy wild, 105 Loved haunts like these; the unimprisoned Mind May yet have scope to range among her own, Her thoughts, her images, her high desires. If the dear faculty of sight should fail, Still, it may be allowed me to remember 110 What visionary powers of eye and soul In youth were mine; when, stationed on the top Of some huge hill--expectant, I beheld The sun rise up,[DZ] from distant climes returned Darkness to chase, and sleep; and bring the day 115 His bounteous gift! or saw him toward the deep[311] Sink, with a retinue of flaming clouds Attended; then, my spirit was entranced With joy exalted to beatitude;[EA] The measure of my soul was filled with bliss, 120 And holiest love; as earth, sea, air, with light, With pomp, with glory, with magnificence!