Robert Browning

This could but have happened once,
And we missed it, lost it forever.

This could but have happened once,
And we missed it, lost it forever.

A people is but the attempt of many
To rise to the completer life of one--
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A people is but the attempt of many
To rise to the completer life of one--
And those who live as models for the mass
Are singly of more value than they all.

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?

What? Was man made a wheel-work to wind up,
And be discharged, and straight wound up anew?
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What? Was man made a wheel-work to wind up,
And be discharged, and straight wound up anew?
No! grown, his growth lasts; taught, he ne'er forgets;
May learn a thousand things, not twice the same.

So free we seem, so fettered fast we are.

So free we seem, so fettered fast we are.