 | The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang |  |
51
Tout finit par des Chansons
All ends in song! Dame Nature toiled
In stellar space, by land, by sea;
And many a monstrous thing she spoiled,
And many another brought to be;
Strange brutes that sprawled, strange stars that flee,
Or flare the steadfast signs among:
What profit thence—to you or me?
All ends in song!
In stellar space, by land, by sea;
And many a monstrous thing she spoiled,
And many another brought to be;
Strange brutes that sprawled, strange stars that flee,
Or flare the steadfast signs among:
What profit thence—to you or me?
All ends in song!
All ends in song! But Nature moiled
And brought forth Man, who deems him free,
Who dreams 'twas his own hand embroiled
The tangles of his destiny:
Who fashioned empires—who but he?—
Who fashioned gods, a motley throng:
They fall, they fade by Time's decree—
All ends in song!
And brought forth Man, who deems him free,
Who dreams 'twas his own hand embroiled
The tangles of his destiny:
Who fashioned empires—who but he?—
Who fashioned gods, a motley throng:
They fall, they fade by Time's decree—
All ends in song!
52
All ends in song! we strive, are foiled,
Are broken-hearted—even we:
Where that old sinful snake is coiled
We shake the knowledgeable tree,
We listen to the serpent's plea,
‘As gods shall ye know right and wrong’—
And this is all the mystery—
‘All ends in song.’
Are broken-hearted—even we:
Where that old sinful snake is coiled
We shake the knowledgeable tree,
We listen to the serpent's plea,
‘As gods shall ye know right and wrong’—
And this is all the mystery—
‘All ends in song.’
Envoy
Muse, or in sooth or mockery,Or brief of days, or lasting long,
Our love, or hate, or gloom, or glee—
All ends in song.
| The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang | |