HOW every hope of ours is raised in vain, How spoiled the plans we laid so fair and well, How ignorance throughout the earth doth reign, Death, who is mistress of us all, can tell. In song and dance and jest some pass their days, Some vow their talents unto gentle arts, Some hold the world in scorn and all its ways. Some hide the impulses that move their hearts. Vain thoughts and wishes, cares of every kind Greatly upon this erring earth prevail In various presence after nature'''s lore; Fortune doth fashion with inconstant mind, All things are transient here below and frail. Death only standeth fast for evermore. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CHAMBER MUSIC: 15 by JAMES JOYCE WORDS IN A CERTAIN APPROPRIATE MODE by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE ORANGE PICKER by DAVID IGNATOW LOVELIGHT by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON HER EYES TWIN POOLS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON SUGGESTED BY THE COVER OF A VOLUME OF KEATS'S POEMS by AMY LOWELL |