A lifeless life has been its present counterpart.”
Death to appearance, life is,—in the main;
Externally a loss;—intrinsically, gain.210
Within its mother’s womb a child’s lot is to roam.
It has to blossom in the world, as ocean’s foam.
I have a wish, a longing, towards the world of doom;
But God forbids: “Cast not your lives away,” in gloom.[425]
All prohibition’s but a bar from what is loved;
No prohibition’s needed from a thing reproved.
A grain with bitter kernel, still more bitter rind,