ROLL on, and with thy rolling crust That round thy poles thou twirlest, Roll with thee, Earth, this grain of dust, As through the Vast thou whirlest; On, on through zones of dark and light Still waft me, blind and reeling, Around the sun, and with his flight In wilder orbits wheeling. Speed on through deeps without a shore, This Atom with thee bearing, Thyself a grain of dust -- no more -- 'Mid fume of systems flaring. Ah, what am I to thirst for power, Or pore on Nature's pages, -- Whirl'd onward, living for an hour, And dead through endless ages? |