I craved what the world never gave;
And I said: “In the world, each Ideal
That shines like a star on life’s wave,
Is wrecked on the shores of the Real,
And sleeps like a dream in a grave.”
And still did I pine for the Perfect,
And still found the false with the true;
I sought ’mid the human for heaven,
And caught a mere glimpse of its blue;
And I wept when the clouds of the mortal