much!” How can I expect them to bear the ceaseless eloquence of my nature?’
‘Often it has seemed that I have come near enough to
the limits to see what they are. But suddenly arises
afar the Fata Morgana, and tells of new Sicilies, of
their flowery valleys and fields of golden grain. Then,
as I would draw near, my little bark is shattered on
the rock, and I am left on the cold wave. Yet with
my island in sight I do not sink.’
‘I look not fairly to myself, at the present moment.
If noble growths are always slow, others may ripen far
worthier fruit than is permitted to my tropical heats
and tornadoes. Let me clasp the cross on my breast,
as I have done a thousand times before.’
‘Let me but gather from the earth one full-grown fragrant flower;
Within my bosom let it bloom through its one blooming hour;
Within my bosom let it die, and to its latest breath
My own shall answer, “Having lived, I shrink not now from death.”
It is this niggard halfness that turns my heart to stone;
’Tis the cup seen, not tasted, that makes the infant moan,
For once let me press firm my lips upon the moment's brow,
For once let me distinctly feel I am all happy now,
And bliss shall seal a blessing upon that moment's brow.’
‘I was in a state of celestial happiness, which lasted
a great while. For months I was all radiant with
faith, and love, and life. I began to be myself. Night
and day were equally beautiful, and the lowest and
highest equally holy. Before, it had seemed as if the
Divine only gleamed upon me; but then it poured into
and through me a tide of light. I have passed down
from the rosy mountain, now; but I do not forget its
