Whence? whither? where?—a taper-point of light,
My life and world—the infinite around;
A sea, not even highest thought can sound;
A formless void; unchanging, endless night.
In vain the struggling spirit aims its flight
To the empyrean, seen as is a star,
Sole glimmering through the hazy night afar;
In vain it beats its wings with daring might.
What yonder gleams?—what heavenly shapes arise
From out the bodiless waste? Behold the dawn,