A mountain sometimes stands in silent state
And outward stillness, whilst its fiery heart
Throbs with doom's potency and pent-up fate.
So KANT stood, brooding for twelve years apart
From men, whilst his strong soul did dominate
Amid the shades whose realm was its resort.
Then on the mind's illimitable sea
He sailed, undaunted, till he found an isle
Where Truth sat, like a Sybil, 'neath a tree
Whose fruit was knowledge, and he felt her smile
Smite on the veils of sense that utterly
Cloud the soul's eyes and so sad men beguile.
And in his trembling hand she laid the key
That solves the secrets of all things that be.