WHAT have I gained who gave so much? A crown too slippery for my clutch -- A body misused and a heart abused. What have I gained for all I spent? Many a dead man's curse to rue, Many a lover and not one true, Many a bribe, though not my due -- Yet I have lived, and am content. SAY that I squandered life -- confessed. Had I been miser of my best, To-day I would be in penury Even as now, a fool betrayed. The crown of stars and the nether flame Both have I proved in the teeth of blame. Have not the years in pride and shame Given the worth of all I paid? THE course I chose was the course I kept; In the face of doom like a flame I leapt. Bitter and sweet have I known complete -- One adventure is left to try. Life I have finished, mire to throne -- Here at life's end I stand alone. Headsman, warder of worlds unknown, Show me now what it means to die! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A PASSAGE IN THE LIFE OF ST. AUGUSTINE by NICHOLAS BRETON TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [CRISEYDE]: BOOK 2 by GEOFFREY CHAUCER A NIGHT TRAIL by CHARLES BADGER CLARK JR. POSTHUMOUS TALES: TALE 3. EQUAL MARRIAGE by GEORGE CRABBE TWO VIEWS OF IT by CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH NO THANKS: 9 by EDWARD ESTLIN CUMMINGS |