George Santayana — Above the battlements of heaven rise

Above the battlements of heaven rise The glittering domes of the gods' golden dwelling, Whence, like a constellation, passion-quelling, The truth of all things feeds immortal eyes. There all forgotten dreams of paradise From the deep caves of memory upwelling, All tender joys beyond our dim foretelling Are ever bright beneath the flooded skies. There we live o'er, amid angelic powers, Our lives without remorse, as if not ours, And others' lives with love, as if our own; For we behold, from those eternal towers, The deathless beauty of all wingèd hours, And have our being in their truth alone.