......at times I almost dream I too have spent a life the sages' way, And tread once more familiar paths. Perchance I perished in an arrogant self-reliance Ages ago; and in that act, a prayer For one more chance went up so earnest, so Instinct with better light let in by death, That life was blotted out-not so completely But scattered wrecks enough of it remain, Dim memories, as now, when once more seems The goal in sight again. .... "Paracelsus"  by Robert Browning