Desiderium Indesideratum

O Gain that lurk'st ungained in all gain!
O love we just fall short of in all love!
O height that in all heights art still above!
O beauty that dost leave all beauty pain!
Thou unpossessed that mak'st possession vain,
See these strained arms which fright the simple air,
And say what ultimate fairness holds thee, Fair!
They girdle Heaven, and girdle Heaven in vain;
They shut, and lo! but shut, in their unrest.
Thereat a voice in me that voiceless was: —
'Whom seekest thou through the unmarged arcane,
And not discern'st to thine own bosom prest?'
I looked. My clasped arms athwart my breast
Framed the august embraces of the Cross.