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Burton, Sir Richard - THE KASÎDAH 03 3

Ah! gay the day with shine of sun,
and bright the breeze, and blithe the throng
Met on the River-bank to play,
when I was young, when I was young:

Such general joy could never fade;
and yet the chilling whisper came
One face had paled, one form had failed;
had fled the bank, had swum the stream;

Still revellers danced, and sang, and trod
the hither bank of Time's deep tide,
Still one by one they left and fared
to the far misty thither side;

And now the last hath slipt away
yon drear death-desert to explore,
And now one Pilgrim worn and lorn
still lingers on the lonely shore.

Yes, Life in youth-tide standeth still;
in manhood streameth soft and slow;
See, as it nears the 'abysmal goal
how fleet the waters flash and flow!

And Deaths are twain; the Deaths we see
drop like the leaves in windy Fall;
But ours, our own, are ruined worlds,
a globe collapst, last end of all.