epitaph.
141
Tell us, what hope could love supply?
What page of drear philosophy
Would say thou didst not vainly die?
What page of drear philosophy
Would say thou didst not vainly die?
"As the beast dieth," holy writ
Remorselessly hath worded it,
And so constrains our feeble wit.
Remorselessly hath worded it,
And so constrains our feeble wit.
Poor beasts! in mild Chaldaic lore,
When shepherds watched on starlit moor,
Your destiny was not so poor.
When shepherds watched on starlit moor,
Your destiny was not so poor.
Great Nature to her open feast
Gave welcome wide, the highest guest
Had common birthright with the least.
Gave welcome wide, the highest guest
Had common birthright with the least.
To live to die! it could not be;
Birthright was immortality:
Yea, what was born could never die.
Birthright was immortality:
Yea, what was born could never die.
