Behold him now, in utter solitude

THE VEILED STATUE AT SAIS – Friedrich Schiller

   The youth now sought his home, absorbed in thought;
   His burning wish to solve the mystery
   Banished all sleep; upon his couch he lay,
   Tossing his feverish limbs. When midnight came,
   He rose, and toward the temple timidly,
   Led by a mighty impulse, bent his way.
   The walls he scaled, and soon one active spring
   Landed the daring boy beneath the dome.

   Behold him now, in utter solitude,
   Welcomed by naught save fearful, deathlike silence,—
   A silence which the echo of his steps
   Alone disturbs, as through the vaults he paces.
   Piercing an opening in the cupola,
   The moon cast down her pale and silvery beams,
   And, awful as a present deity,
   Glittering amid the darkness of the pile,
   In its long veil concealed, the statue stands.