Explore "Within and Without" by George MacDonald on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Go thou into thy closet; shut thy door; / And pray to Him in secret: He will hear. / But think not thou, by one wild bound, to clear / The numberless ascensions, more and more, / Of starry stairs that must be climbed, before / Thou comest to the Father's likeness near, / And bendest down to kiss the feet so dear / That, step by step, their mounting flights passed o'er.
Be thou content if on thy weary need / There falls a sense of showers and of the spring; / A hope that makes it possible to fling / Sickness aside, and go and do the deed; / For highest aspiration will not lead / Unto the calm beyond all questioning.