Introductory material
Reading edition
By the sea, by the dreary darkening sea
There stands a youthful man,
His frame is throbbing with doubt’s agony,
His lips move sadly and wan.
Oh, solve me Life’s enigma, ye waves,
The torturing riddle of old
With which the mind of humanity raves,
Whose answer is never told;
The mystery hidden from hoary sage,
From soldier, saint, and king;
From wisest heads in every age,
Weary and languishing
For light upon the misty road.
Tell me, what am I?
Whence came I, whither do I plod?
Who dwells in the blazing sky?
The billows murmur ceaselessly,
The wind speaks night and day,
Calm and cold sing the stars on high,
But he knows not what they say.
Heine.
The doctrine of metempsychosis may almost claim to be a natural or innate belief in the human mind, if we may judge from its wide diffusion among the nations of the earth and its prevalence throughout the historical ages.—Professor Francis Bowen.
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