Only the stars endome the lonely camp,
Only the desert leagues encompass it;
Waterless wastes, a wilderness of wit,
Embattled Cold, Imagination’s cramp.
Now were the Desolation fain to stamp
The congealed Spirit of Man into the pit,
Save that, unquenchable because unlit,
The Love of God burns steady, like a Lamp.
It burns! beyond the sands, beyond the stars.
It burns! beyond the bands, beyond the bars,
And so the Expanse of Mystery veil by veil
Burns inward, plume on plume still folding over
The dissolved heart of the amazèd lover—
The angel wings over the Holy Grail!
{44}