Chapter LII

He complains of his own inability to love Hallam as he ought, that is, worthily; because, if he did so, he would be equal to his friend,

"For love reflects the thing beloved;"

whereas his words are words only, the "froth of thought."

The Spirit of love reproves this self-accusation:

"Thou canst not move me from thy side,
Nor human frailty do me wrong."

There is no ideal of excellence, which we may conceive, that will ensure our attaining to it:

"not the sinless years
That breathed beneath the Syrian blue"--

not the life of Christ, in the clear atmosphere of Palestine, keeps any spirit "wholly true" to that pattern of perfection.

So be not "like an idle girl," fretting over little faults--"flecks of sin." But wait, thy wealth will be gathered in--thy worth shown

"When Time hath sunder'd shell from pearl"--

when the flesh has left the Soul free from its contaminating influence.