Spirits in Bondage

by C.S. Lewis

XV. Dungeon Grates

So piteously the lonely soul of man
     Shudders before this universal plan,
     So grievous is the burden and the pain,
     So heavy weighs the long, material chain
     From cause to cause, too merciless for hate,
     The nightmare march of unrelenting fate,
     I think that he must die thereof unless
     Ever and again across the dreariness
     There came a sudden glimpse of spirit faces,
     A fragrant breath to tell of flowery places
     And wider oceans, breaking on the shore
     From which the hearts of men are always sore.
     It lies beyond endeavour; neither prayer
     Nor fasting, nor much wisdom winneth there,
     Seeing how many prophets and wise men
     Have sought for it and still returned again
     With hope undone. But only the strange power
     Of unsought Beauty in some casual hour
     Can build a bridge of light or sound or form
     To lead you out of all this strife and storm;
     When of some beauty we are grown a part
     Till from its very glory's midmost heart
     Out leaps a sudden beam of larger light
     Into our souls. All things are seen aright
     Amid the blinding pillar of its gold,
     Seven times more true than what for truth we hold
     In vulgar hours. The miracle is done
     And for one little moment we are one
     With the eternal stream of loveliness
     That flows so calm, aloft from all distress
     Yet leaps and lives around us as a fire
     Making us faint with overstrong desire
     To sport and swim for ever in its deep—
     Only a moment.
                           O! but we shall keep
     Our vision still. One moment was enough,
     We know we are not made of mortal stuff.
     And we can bear all trials that come after,
     The hate of men and the fool's loud bestial laughter
     And Nature's rule and cruelties unclean,
     For we have seen the Glory-we have seen.