George Willis Cooke, comp. The Poets of Transcendentalism: An Anthology. 1903.
The GoalEllen Sturgis Hooper (18121848)
I
And questioned what and how I meant to be;
And leaving far behind me power and pelf,
I fixed a goal,—nor farther could I see.
And proudly thought upon my laurels there.
Lo, here I stand! all childlike to be led.
My goal, self-fixed, has vanished into air.
I run, I toil, but see not all my way;
Ever more pure it shines into a perfect day.