Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ECHO by GEORGE SANTAYANA

Poet Analysis

First Line: ALAS, TO BE / MORTAL, AND KNOW OUR SAD MORTALITY!
Last Line: BUT FEIGNS A VOICE.
Subject(s): MORTALITY;
Alas, to be
Mortal, and know our sad mortality!
To earth we come
Thinking no evil, deeming we are free:
We gaze too long upon the sky and sea,
This sweet life darkens into mystery,
And we grow dumb.

We can no more
On the compelling wings of rapture soar,
And of no choice
Sing to the gods a hymn unsung before:
Our song, the echo of a storm that's o'er,
A dying ripple on the beaten shore,
But feigns a voice.




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