The Thread of Life by Christina Rossetti

The irresponsive silence of the land,
The irresponsive silence of the sea,
 Speak both one message of one sense to me:-
 Aloof, aloof, we stand aloof, so stand
 Thou too aloof bound with a flawless band
 Of inner solitude; we bind not thee;
 But who from thy self-chain shall set thee free?
 What heart shall touch thy heart? What hand thy hand?-
 And I am sometimes proud and sometimes meek,
 And sometimes I remember days of old
 When fellowship seemed not so far to seek
 And all the world and I seemed much less cold,
 And at the rainbow’s foot lay surely gold,
 And hope felt strong and life itself not weak.

 Christina Rossetti