Long warned of many terrors more severe <br />To scorch him than hell’s engines could awaken, <br />He scanned again, too far to be so near, <br />The fearful seat no man had ever taken. <br /> <br />So many other men with older eyes <br />Than his to see with older sight behind them <br />Had known so long their one way to be wise,— <br />Was any other thing to do than mind them? <br /> <br />So many a blasting parallel had seared <br />Confusion on his faith,—could he but wonder <br />If he were mad and right, or if he feared <br />God’s fury told in shafted flame and thunder? <br /> <br />There fell one day upon his eyes a light <br />Ethereal, and he heard no more men speaking; <br />He saw their shaken heads, but no long sight <br />Was his but for the end that he went seeking. <br /> <br />The end he sought was not the end; the crown <br />He won shall unto many still be given. <br />Moreover, there was reason here to frown: <br />No fury thundered, no flame fell from heaven.<br /><br />Edwin Arlington Robinson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/siege-perilous/
