Tannhäuser monologue (Act 4) — Tannhäuser : $b A story of all time

Not great! The consciousness of man Their many generations moulded so To fix in definite ideas, and clothe Their Maker in the rags. If skies are vast, So gems are tiny: who shall choose between? Who reads the riddle of the Universe? All words! Thus, from his rock-wrought peeking-point Out speers the hermit. “See, the sun is dead!” It shines elsewhere. You from your tiny perch, The corner of the corner of the earth, Itself a speck in solar life; the sun, For all I know, a speck among the stars, Themselves one corporate molecule of space!— You from your perch judge, label, limit Him! Not that your corner is not equally The centre and the whole. Fool’s talk it is! Consider the futility of mind! Realize utterly how mean, how dull, How fruitless is Philosophy!