* * * * *
"And we are present, future, past—
Shall live again, have lived before.
Like billows on the beaches cast
Of tides that flow for evermore.
* * * * *
"That may be so; but to mine eyes
A being of wondrous make thou art—
The point at which infinities
Converge, touch, and forever part.
"Thou canst not unmake what has been,
Nor hold back that which is to come;
We dwell upon the waste between
In the small 'now' which is our home.
* * * * *
"But in the ages thou shalt be
A link from unknown to unknown,
A bridge across a darkling sea,
A light on the world's pathway thrown.
* * * * *
"And we must pass—we shall not die;
Changed and transformed, but still the same.
To grander heights of mystery,
To fairer realms than whence we came.