23

Beyond the seas we know, stretch seas unknown
Blue and bright-colored for our dim and green;
Beyond the lands we see, stretch lands unseen
With many-tinted tangle overgrown;
And icebound seas there are like seas of stone,
Serenely stormless as death lies serene;
Betwixt the lands where living flowers are blown,
This dead and living world befits our case
Who live and die: we live in wearied hope,
We die in hope not dead; we run a race
Today, and find no present halting-place;
All things we see lie far within our scope,
And still we peer beyond with craving face.

-- Christina Rossetti