Quote#God & Faith
The sea of faith
Quote byMatthew Arnold · 1822–1888
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Dover Beach, St. 3 (cf. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, l. 1239).
English (original)
The sea of faith Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. But now I only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, Retreating, to the breath Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear And naked shingles of the world.
— Matthew Arnold
More from Matthew Arnold
A God, a God their severance ruled! And bade betwixt their shores to be The unplumb'd, salt, estranging sea.
Calm soul of all things! make it mine To feel, amid the city’s jar, That there abides a peace of thine, Man did not make, and cannot mar.
I keep saying, Shakspeare, Shakspeare, you are as obscure as life is.
Yes: in the sea of life enisl’d, With echoing straits between us thrown, Dotting the shoreless watery wild, We mortal millions live alone.
We cannot kindle when we will The fire that in the heart resides, The spirit bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides; — But tasks, in hours of insight willed, Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.
With aching hands and bleeding feet We dig and heap, lay stone on stone; We bear the burden and the heat Of the long day and wish’t were done. Not till the hours of light return All we have built do we discern.