Page:Ferishtah's fancies - Browning (1884).djvu/102

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FERISHTAH'S FANCIES.
Boundlessly, endlessly. My curls were crownedIn youth with knowledge,—off, alas, crown slippedNext moment, pushed by better knowledge stillWhich nowise proved more constant: gain, to-day,Was toppling loss to-morrow, lay at last—Knowledge, the golden?—lacquered ignorance!As gain—mistrust it! Not as means to gain:Lacquer we learn by: cast in fining-pot,We learn,—when what seemed ore assayed proves dross,—Surelier true gold's worth, guess how purityI' the lode were precious could one light on oreClarified up to test of crucible.The prize is in the process: knowledge meansEver-renewed assurance by defeatThat victory is somehow still to reach:
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