One day I heard a whisper:  ‘Wherefore wait?

Why linger in a separate porch?

Why nurse the flicker of a severed torch?

The fire is there, ablaze beyond the gate.

Why tremble, foolish soul? Why hesitate?

However faint the knock, it will be heard.’

I knocked, and swiftly came the answering word,

Which bade me enter to my own estate.

Maurice Baring