what he says to the throng in order that they should enable him to
proceed on his way:

67.

_The fifth blind man_.

Eyes of mine, with waters ever full,
When will the bright spark of the visual ray,
Darting, spring through each veiling obstacle,
That I may see again those holy lights
That were the alpha of my darling pain?
Ah, woe! I fear me it is quite extinct,
So long oppressed and conquered by its opposite.
Let the blind man pass on!
And turn your eyes upon these founts
Which overcome the others one and all.
Should any dare dispute it with me,
There's one would surely answer him again;
That in one eye of mine an ocean is contained.

The sixth blind man is sightless because, through so much weeping, there
remains no more moisture, not even the crystalline and moisture through
which, as a diaphanous medium, the visual ray was transmitted, and the
external light and visible species were introduced, so that the heart
became compressed because all the moist substance, whose office it is to
keep united the various parts and opposites, was absorbed, and the
amorous affection remains without the effect of tears. Therefore the
organ is destroyed through the victory of the other elements, and it is
consequently left without sight and without consistency of the parts of
the body altogether.[AC] He then proposes to the bystanders that which
you shall hear:

68.

_The sixth blind man_.

Eyes, no longer eyes, fountains no longer founts,
Ye have wept out the waters that did keep
The body, soul, and spirit joined in one,
And thou, reflecting crystal, which from without
So much unto the soul made manifest,
Thou art consumed by the wounded heart.
So towards the dark and cavernous abyss,
I, a blind arid man, direct my steps.
Ah, pity me, and do not hesitate
To help my speedy going. I who
So many rivers in the dark days spread out,
Finding my only comfort in my tears,
Now that my streams and fountains all are dry,
Towards profound oblivion lead the way.

[AC] Water is the first principle of all things; this was the
central doctrine of his system (Thales). Now, if we may believe
Aristotle, this thought was suggested to him not so much by
contemplating the illimitable ocean, out of which, as old
cosmogonists taught, all things had at first proceeded, as by
noticing the obvious fact, that