Then—with all the ardor of my being—

Forth I rushed from Time’s slow apathy,

Like a pilgrim home from travel, fleeing

To the arms of rapt Eternity.

Blessed be childhood’s golden dreams, their power

Hid from me Life’s dismal poverty:

All the heart’s rich germs ye brought to flower;

Things I could not reach, ye gave to me![[794]]

In thy beauty and thy light, O Nature,

Free from care and from compulsion free,