The man is praying who doth press with might

Out of his darkness into God's own light.

White heat the iron in the furnace won,

Withdrawn from thence 'twas cold and hard anon.

Flowers, from their stalk divided, presently

Droop, fall, and wither in the gazer's eye.

The greenest leaf, divided from its stem,

To speedy withering doth itself condemn.

The largest river, from its fountain-head

Cut off, leaves soon a parched and dusty bed.