Only when the sun of love
Melts the scattered stars of thought,
Only when we live above
What the dim-eyed world hath taught,
Only when our souls are fed
By the fount which gave them birth,
And by inspiration led
Which they never drew from earth.
We, like parted drops of rain,
Swelling till they meet and run,
Shall be all absorbed again,
Melting, flowing into one.
Christopher Pearse Cranch (1813-1892).
Cranch's own title for this poem was "Enosis," not "Gnosis" as now given; "Enosis" being a Greek word meaning "all in one," which is illustrated by the last verse.
It was first published in the Dial in 1844. "Stanzas" appeared at the head, and at the end was his initial, "C."
CHAPTER IV
Three Years at Smith College—Appreciation of Its Founder—A Successful Lecture Tour—My Trip to Alaska.
"There is nothing so certain as the unexpected," and "if you fit yourself for the wall, you will be put in."