Before me grew the human soul, <br />And after I am dead and gone, <br />Through grades of effort and control <br />The marvellous work shall still go on. <br /> <br />Each mortal in his little span <br />Hath only lived, if he have shown <br />What greatness there can be in man <br />Above the measured and the known; <br /> <br />How through the ancient layers of night, <br />In gradual victory secure, <br />Grows ever with increasing light <br />The Energy serene and pure: <br /> <br />The Soul, that from a monstrous past, <br />From age to age, from hour to hour, <br />Feels upward to some height at last <br />Of unimagined grace and power. <br /> <br />Though yet the sacred fire be dull, <br />In folds of thwarting matter furled, <br />Ere death be nigh, while life is full, <br />O Master Spirit of the world, <br /> <br />Grant me to know, to seek, to find, <br />In some small measure though it be, <br />Emerging from the waste and blind, <br />The clearer self, the grander me!<br /><br />Archibald Lampman<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-clearer-self/
