 | Studies from the Antique and Sketches from Nature |  |
69
SISYPHUS.
Ever and evermore
Upon the steep life-shore
Of Death's dark main,
Bare to the bitter skies,
His mournful task he plies
In vain, in vain!
Upon the steep life-shore
Of Death's dark main,
Bare to the bitter skies,
His mournful task he plies
In vain, in vain!
Sometimes he looks to Heaven
And asks to be forgiven
The grievous pain.
The stars look sadly down,
The cold sun seems to frown—
In vain, in vain!
And asks to be forgiven
The grievous pain.
The stars look sadly down,
The cold sun seems to frown—
In vain, in vain!
70
But kindly mother Earth,
Remembering his birth,
Doth not disdain
To sympathise with him,
So worn of heart and limb;
In vain, in vain!
Remembering his birth,
Doth not disdain
To sympathise with him,
So worn of heart and limb;
In vain, in vain!
Is not his fate her own?
The rolling toilsome stone
Rolled back again?
Are not her children's woes
The very same he knows?—
In vain, in vain!
The rolling toilsome stone
Rolled back again?
Are not her children's woes
The very same he knows?—
In vain, in vain!
Do not all Earth and Sea
Repeat eternally
Th' unvarying strain?
The old and sad lament
With human voices blent,
In vain, in vain!
Repeat eternally
Th' unvarying strain?
The old and sad lament
With human voices blent,
In vain, in vain!
71
Through the green forest arch
The wild winds in their march
Sigh and complain;
The torrent on the hill
Moans to the midnight chill,
In vain, in vain!
The wild winds in their march
Sigh and complain;
The torrent on the hill
Moans to the midnight chill,
In vain, in vain!
The hoarse monotonous waves
Attune from all their caves,
Thro' storm and rain,
The melancholy cry,
To listening Earth and sky,
In vain, in vain!
Attune from all their caves,
Thro' storm and rain,
The melancholy cry,
To listening Earth and sky,
In vain, in vain!
Love mourns its early dead;
Hope its illusions fled,
Or rudely slain;
And Wealth and Power prolong
The same, th' eternal song,
In vain, in vain!
Hope its illusions fled,
Or rudely slain;
And Wealth and Power prolong
The same, th' eternal song,
In vain, in vain!
72
Toil, Sisyphus, toil on!
Thou'rt many, though but one!
Toil heart and brain!
One—but the type of all
Rolling the dreadful ball,
In vain! in vain!
Thou'rt many, though but one!
Toil heart and brain!
One—but the type of all
Rolling the dreadful ball,
In vain! in vain!
| Studies from the Antique and Sketches from Nature | |