An Epitaph

Like thee I once have stemm'd the sea of life,
Like thee have languish'd after empty joys,
Like thee have labour'd in the stormy strife,
Been grieved for trifles, and amused with toys.

Forget my frailties; thou art also frail:
Forgive my lapses; for thyself may'st fall:
Nor read unmoved my artless tender tale--


An Epitaph

O mortal folk, you may behold and see
How I lie here, sometime a mighty knight;
The end of joy and all prosperitee
   Is death at last, thorough his course and might:
   After the day there cometh the dark night,
   For though the daye be never so long,
   At last the bells ringeth to evensong.


An Epitaph

On a monument formed as a curving wave

By ceaseless waves, that break and waste,
All human record is effaced:
Only our love in brief defence
Shall hold the billow in suspense.


An Empty Tomb

Had never vessel cross'd the main,
Our present grief had been in vain;
But we for Sopolis must weep,
Now plung'd beneath the whelming deep:
The surges toss his breathless frame;
An empty tomb preserves his name.


An Ecology

We drop in the evening like dew
upon the ground and the living
feel it on their faces. Death
soft, moist everywhere upon us,
soon to cover the living
as they drop. This explains
the ocean and the sun.


An Die Kunstrichter

Schweigt, unberauschte, finstre Richter!
Ich trinke Wein, und bin ein Dichter.
Tut mir es nach, und trinket Wein,
So seht ihr meine Schoenheit ein.
Sonst wahrlich, unberauschte Richter,
Sonst wahrlich seht ihr sie nicht ein!


An Autumnal Simile

The leaves that in the lonely walks were spread,
Starting from off the ground beneath the tread,
Coursed o'er the garden-plain;
Thus, sometimes, 'mid the soul's deep sorrowings,
Our soul a moment mounts on wounded wings,
Then, swiftly, falls again.


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