 | Sonnets to the Universe |  |
20
Death and Life
The air grows chill. The tide is ebbing fast.The shadows creep along. The sands run low.
Soon will my years be numbered with the past;
Soon will my sap of life have ceased to flow.
I wait my summons. What will death unfold?
A denser darkness or an ampler light?
Will my eyes open as my heart grows cold?
And will new wonders dawn upon their sight?
Vain questions! Death unlocks one door alone:
It cannot set the self-imprisoned free;
Nor tell us what our hearts have never known.
'Tis life, not death, that holds your master-key.
The deeper knowledge which death cannot give
Life will unfold to all who learn to live.
| Sonnets to the Universe | |