From the German by Sarah Taylor Austin
MANY a year is in its grave
Since I crossed this restless wave:
And the evening, fair as ever,
Shines on ruin, rock, and river.
Then in this same boat beside,
Sat two comrades old and tried,—
One with all a father’s truth,
One with all the fire of youth.
One on earth in silence...
Long pored Saint Austin o’er the sacred page,
And doubt and darkness overspread his mind;
On God’s mysterious being thought the Sage,
The Triple Person in one Godhead joined.
The more he thought, the harder did he find
To solve the various doubts which fast arose;
And as a ship, caught by imperious wind,
Tosses where chance its...
