Brief is Man's travail here and transitory His wrath that soon is spent, Brief his lament, Lifted in vain against the harsh decrees Of the high Destinies That move not to the measure of his woe: Even as snow On sunny meadows, as a lover's story Told in an April twilight long ago, Brief is he even as these -- His little hour of tumult, or of glory -- And to what end devised we may not guess, Considering, as we go Toward the same shadows, bearing the same spark, His vanity and empty nothingness. Yet in the mighty Dark Dear is the spirit; grievously we know Earth has one burden more, one soul the less. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 57. AL-HAMID by EDWIN ARNOLD SONNET: LOVE'S DEPTH by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON FAMILIARITY by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN THE HAPPY LAND by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE SANDY STAR: 4. THE WAY by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE PARACELSUS: 3. PARACELSUS by ROBERT BROWNING TRANSFORMATION by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON |