| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | II. Origin of the Soul | | By Sir Aubrey de Vere (1788–1846) |
| | | IT cannot be that by traduction come | |
| Our souls, like growth of the corporeal frame: | |
| This earth is to the flesh a natural home; | |
| But spirit is of heaven, from whence it came, | |
| And tends aspiring,—an ethereal flame, | 5 |
| Sacred, as are the fires of martyrdom! | |
| All else is mystery. We hear a name, | |
| But meet no phantom risen from the tomb. | |
| What shall we think then? Ere this world was born, | |
| Were souls, countless as beams of stellar light, | 10 |
| Called forth? or as our flesh demands? The night | |
| Of childhood, and man’s meditative morn, | |
| Thrill with vague memories; and blind impulse brings | |
| Shadows perplexed of pre-existing things! | | | | |
|
|
