Ah! / These under-formings in the mind

Ah!
These under-formings in the mind,
Banked corals which ascend from far,
But little heed men that they wind
Unseen, unheard—till lo, the reef—
The reef and breaker, wreck and grief.
But here unlearning, how to me
Opes the expanse of time’s vast sea!
Yes, I am young, but Asia old.
The books, the books not all have told.

by Herman Melville