So piteously the lonely soul of man <br />Shudders before this universal plan, <br />So grievous is the burden and the pain, <br />So heavy weighs the long, material chain <br />From cause to cause, too merciless for hate, <br />The nightmare march of unrelenting fate, <br />I think that he must die thereof unless <br />Ever and again across the dreariness <br />There came a sudden glimpse of spirit faces, <br />A fragrant breath to tell of flowery places <br />And wider oceans, breaking on the shore <br />From which the hearts of men are always sore. <br />It lies beyond endeavour; neither prayer <br />Nor fasting, nor much wisdom winneth there, <br />Seeing how many prophets and wise men <br />Have sought for it and still returned again <br />With hope undone. But only the strange power <br />Of unsought Beauty in some casual hour <br />Can build a bridge of light or sound or form <br />To lead you out of all this strife and storm; <br />When of some beauty we are grown a part <br />Till from its very glory’s midmost heart <br />Out leaps a sudden beam of larger light <br />Into our souls. All things are seen aright <br />Amid the blinding pillar of its gold, <br />Seven times more true than what for truth we hold <br />In vulgar hours. The miracle is done <br />And for one little moment we are one <br />With the eternal stream of loveliness <br />That flows so calm, aloft from all distress <br />Yet leaps and lives around us as a fire <br />Making us faint with overstrong desire <br />To sport and swim for ever in its deep— <br />Only a moment. <br /> O! but we shall keep <br />Our vision still. One moment was enough, <br />We know we are not made of mortal stuff. <br />And we can bear all trials that come after, <br />The hate of men and the fool’s loud bestial laughter <br />And Nature’s rule and cruelties unclean, <br />For we have seen the Glory—we have seen.<br /><br />Clive Staples Lewis<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dungeon-grates/
