Some new such hope must dawn at last,
Or man must toss in pain.
"'But now the old is out of date,
The new is not yet born.
And who can be alone elate,
While the world lies forlorn?'
"Then to the wilderness I fled.
There among Alpine snows
And pastoral huts I hid my head,
And sought and found repose.
"It was not yet the appointed hour.
Sad, patient, and resigned,
I watched the crocus fade and flower,
I felt the sun and wind.
"The day I lived in was not mine:
Man gets no second day.
In dreams I saw the future shine,
But ah! I could not stay!
"Action I had not, followers, fame.
I passed obscure, alone.
The after-world forgets my name,
Nor do I wish it known.
"Composed to bear, I lived and died,
And knew my life was vain.
With fate I murmur not, nor chide,
At Sèvres by the Seine
"(If Paris that brief flight allow)
My humble tomb explore!
It bears: Eternity, be thou
My refuge! and no more.
