A Highland Regiment/Ecclesiastes

by Ewart Alan Mackintosh

     
OH vanity of vanities
  And following of wind
Through the dim avenues and deep
  Abysses of the mind ;
When will our ears be deaf at last,
  When will our eyes be blind ?


Oh vanity of vanities
  And lighter than the air.
And restless hearts unsatisfied
  With searching everywhere ;
When will the restless heart be still,
  And loosened from its care ?


Oh vanity of sorrowing
  And emptiness of mirth,
And wandering fires of thought in clay
  Imprisoned at our birth,
When will the wandering fires go out,
  And earth return to earth ?

Oxford, 1913