Universe is almost entirely unperceived by our senses and reasoning
powers.

Let us confess, and without apology, that the country which claims a
Hawthorne, a Poe, and a youthful Longfellow, can never surrender
unconditionally its hold upon the "True Romance:"

"Through wantonness if men profess
They weary of Thy parts,
E'en let them die at blasphemy
And perish with their arts;
But we that love, but we that prove
Thine excellence august,
While we adore discover more
Thee perfect, wise, and just....

A veil to draw 'twixt God His Law
And Man's infirmity;
A shadow kind to dumb and blind
The shambles where we die;
A sum to trick th' arithmetic
Too base of leaguing odds;
The spur of trust, the curb of lust--
Thou handmaid of the Gods!"




AUGUST WILHELM SCHLEGEL