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41

"Blank Misgivings of a Creature moving about
in Worlds not realised."

I.

Here am I yet, another twelvemonth spent,

One-third departed of the mortal span,
Carrying on the child into the man,
Nothing into reality. Sails rent,
And rudder hroken,—reason impotent,—
Affections all unfixed; so forth I fare
On the mid seas unheedingly, so dare
To do and to be done by, well content.
So was it from the first, so is it yet;
Yea, the first kiss that by these lips was set
On any human lips, methinks was sin—
Sin, cowardice, and falsehood; for the will
Into a deed e'en then advanced, wherein
God, unidentified, was thought-of still.

II.

Though to the vilest things beneath the moon

For poor Ease' sake I give away my heart,
And for the moment's sympathy let part
My sight and sense of truth, Thy precious boon,