Dearer than ever seem those fading towers,
Whose oriel windows gleam like soul-lit eyes
For one bright moment ere thick darkness lies
On earth and sky, then trembling, faint, and sore,
Closing our pathway, lo, we find a door,
The entrance to a narrow house that still
Blocks up the way of every human will.
Wander where’er we may, this self-same goal
Is reached at last by every weary soul.
Our burdens fall unheeded, and our gains,—