Now that the gods are gone, And the kings, the gods' shadows, are gone, Man is alone on the earth, Thrust out with the suns, alone. Silent he walks among The unanswering stars of his night, Knowing his hands are weak, that his eyes Deceive in the light. Knowing there is no guerdon to win But the dark and his measure of mould, Foreseeing the end of dream, foreseeing Youth grow old. Yet, knowing despair he is free, Free of bonds, of faith, of pain. What should frighten him now Who has nothing to gain, When he takes the place of the gods, And chaos is his and the years, And the thunderous histories of worlds Throb loud for his ears? Now that the gods are gone The skies are dust in his hands; Through his fingers they slip like dust Blown across waste lands; And his glance takes in beauty and grief And the centuries coming or flown: He is god of all ways and things -- And a fool -- and alone. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HE MOURNS FOR THE CHANGE THAT HAS COME UPON HIM AND BELOVED by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE REPLY OF Q. HORATIUS FLACCUS TO A ROMAN 'ROUND-ROBIN' by ALFRED AUSTIN THE REEDS by KONSTANTIN DMITRIYEVICH BALMONT GREEN AISLES by WILLIAM ROSE BENET MY FLOWERS by PIERRE JEAN DE BERANGER PSALM 45 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE |