"The Soul Can Split The Sky In Two"
Last Updated on January 19, 2017, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 196
Context: Realizing the limitations of her physical faculties, the poetess, lying on her back gazing at the sky, eager to relate with the outermost boundaries of objective reality and with the essential nature of things, transforms herself, through universal sympathy and sensitivity, into an omniscient, ubiquitous spirit. Infinity, settles upon her, brings to her ears "the gossiping of friendly spheres,/ The creaking of the tented sky,/ The ticking of Eternity." The weight of the whole universe is too much for her soul, however, and at last crushes her into the ground where, relieved of her burden, she lies in a conscious death. Her renascence is effected when, accepting the world within the realm of her humanity, she prays for a new birth. She realizes after her renascence that the world is as vast as the human heart and soul can expand. It is up to man to fill his void and to experience the essential nature of things. His capacity to live fully lies in the fact that
The heart can push the sea and land
Farther away on either hand;
The soul can split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through.
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