Читать книгу The Greatest German Classics (Vol. 1-14) - Various - Страница 1554

If human Sin confronts the rigid law

Of perfect Truth and Virtue, awe

Seizes and saddens thee to see how far

Beyond thy reach, Perfection;—if we test

By the Ideal of the Good, the best,

How mean our efforts and our actions are!

This space between the Ideal of man's soul

And man's achievement, who hath ever past?

An ocean spreads between us and that goal

Where anchor ne'er was cast!