Robert Browning

What I aspired to be and was not, comforts me.

What I aspired to be and was not, comforts me.

If I stoop
Into a dark tremendous sea of cloud,
It is but for a time; I read more

If I stoop
Into a dark tremendous sea of cloud,
It is but for a time; I press God's lamp
Close to my breast; its splendor soon or late
Will pierce the gloom; I shall emerge one day.

That low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it;
This high man, read more

That low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it;
This high man, with a great thing to pursue,
Dies ere he knows it.
That low man goes on adding one to one,
His hundreds soon hit:
His high man, aiming at a million,
Misses an unit.

It's a long time between drinks.

It's a long time between drinks.

Finds progress, man's distinctive mark alone,
Not God's, and not the beast's;
God is, they are,
read more

Finds progress, man's distinctive mark alone,
Not God's, and not the beast's;
God is, they are,
Man partly is, and wholly hopes to be.