Eternity thou dark unbounded sea,
Upon whose tide we drift into the night,
One moment let us with our mortal sight
Pierce through the fogs and know thy mystery.
Voiceless thou art and voiceless wilt thou be,
Across thy still, cold deeps there comes no light,
While age and æon or a moment's flight
Pass on as one and vanish lost in thee.
Yet onward driven must our frail barques go,
Though through the night no beacon gleams afar,
And storm-clouds hide the steadfast guiding-star;
The purpose of our wandering and our woe,
A tide that wafts to some safe harbour bar,
O God, that we might know, might only know!