George Willis Cooke, comp. The Poets of Transcendentalism: An Anthology. 1903.
Dare and KnowGeorge Shepard Burleigh (1821–1903)
T
That knowledge only is, by proof not ours,
Which lies beyond the measure of our powers:
Not by God’s grudging are our natures chidden,
His hidden things for daring search are hidden:
The cloudy darkness that around him lowers
Burns only with his glory, and the dowers
Of Hero-hearts who have gone up and ridden
The storm like eagles! If the lightning singe
The intrepid wing, ’t is but the burning kiss
Of Victory in Espousal,—the keen bliss
Whose rapturous thrill might make the coward cringe!
He who aloft on Rood-nails hung our crown
Smiles when with bleeding hands we climb and pluck it down!