 | Poetical Works of Robert Bridges excluding the eight dramas |  |
VII
DIRGE
Man born of desireCometh out of the night,
A wandering spark of fire,
A lonely word of eternal thought
Echoing in chance and forgot.
1
He seeth the sun,He calleth the stars by name,
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Wonders of land and sea,
The mountain towers
Of ice and air
He seeth, and calleth them fair:
Then he hideth his face;—
Whence he came to pass away
Where all is forgot,
Unmade—lost for aye
With the things that are not.
2
He striveth to know,To unravel the Mind
That veileth in horror:
He wills to adore.
In wisdom he walketh
And loveth his kind;
His labouring breath
Would keep evermore:
Then he hideth his face;—
Whence he came to pass away
Where all is forgot,
Unmade—lost for aye
With the things that are not.
3
He dreameth of beauty,He seeks to create
Fairer and fairer
To vanquish his Fate;
No hindrance he—
No curse will brook,
He maketh a law
No ill shall be:
399
Whence he came to pass away
Where all is forgot,
Unmade—lost for aye
With the things that are not.
| Poetical Works of Robert Bridges excluding the eight dramas | |