Into the forest’s heart, when far away

We saw a low horizon line of grey

Where all before was dark; and by degrees

Through wider openings among the trees{35}

{35}

The daylight grew; and we who thought we stood

Deep in the hidden cloisters of the wood

Were at its end,—only at last to find

A world like that which we had left behind.

There, out beyond us in the evening gold,

Lay homely meadowlands, and farm and fold:

The path we followed to the unknown shore

Led in the end but to some cottage door.

There, with the forest’s end, those regions vast

That childhood showed us, into dreamland passed.

The great world was beyond us; far away,

Over the hills, the lands we knew not lay,—

But others knew them! Now the secret clue

We followed melted in the noonday’s blue,

Or hid among the stars. That broken road{36}

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