An Allegory
I.
A
portal
as
of
shadowy
adamant
Stands
yawning
on
the
highway
of
the
life
Which
we
all
tread,
a
cavern
huge
and
gaunt;
Around
it
rages
an
unceasing
strife
Of
shadows,
like
the
restless
clouds
that
haunt
The
gap
of
some
cleft
mountain,
lifted
high
Into
the
whirlwinds
of
the
upper
sky.
II.
And
many
pass
it
by
with
careless
tread,
Not
knowing
that
a
shadowy...
Tracks
every
traveller
even
to
where
the
dead
Wait
peacefully
for
their
companion
new;
But
others,
by
more
curious
humour
led,
Pause
to
examine;—these
are
very
few,
And
they
learn
little
there,
except
to
know
That
shadows
follow
them
where’er
they
go.
