AH! what is life? A flickering fire That on the black vault feebly burns, A force which struggles to aspire, Then sudden, quenched to earth returns. And what is Truth? Our striving eyes Pursue in vain the fleeting light; Beyond the darkling hills it flies And ere we gain them, lo! the Night. And what is Knowledge, but a gleam, A little light, a puny spark, A phantasy, a ghost, a dream, Which only glimmers in the dark? The low sun sinks, the night is here, Life, Truth, and Knowledge fade and die; But from the illimitable sphere, New suns unnumbered light the sky. |