If, in thy second state sublime, Thy ransom'd reason change replies With all the circle of the wise, The perfect flower of human time;
And if thou cast thine eyes below, How dimly character'd and slight, How dwarf'd a growth of cold and night, How blanch'd with darkness must I grow!
Yet turn thee to the doubtful shore, Where thy first form was made a man; I loved thee, Spirit, and love, nor can The soul of Shakespeare love thee more.
-Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A. H. H., Canto LXI
Comments