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A REALM OF WONDER[1]
Far off there is a realm of wonder,—
Know you its name?
No region the wide heavens under
Could be the same!
Dark orange groves it hath, and alleys
With sunlit verdure covered over,
High-mounting hills, great river valleys
Enriched by crops of maize and clover:
A Land apart, from all asunder,—
Know you its name?
Walls hath it—two. One—of the mind,
To the outside world forever blind,
Itself within itself hath still confined;
Wherefore its brooding and exclusive spirit
Craves but for progress in experience sown,
Noiseless as Nature's own;
And with that reverence it doth inherit,
Hearkens obediently its sages,
Mysteriously wise from distant ages,
And with unconscious, tireless sacrifice
Creates a paradise.
- ↑ See "La Cité Chinoise" of Eugène Simon.
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