 | Impressions of Italy and Other Poems |  |
317
HUMAN LIFE.
A darkness and a light,
A silence and a sound,
A weakness and a might,
A vastness and a bound;
A silence and a sound,
A weakness and a might,
A vastness and a bound;
Such, such is Human Life,
With its contrasts and its change,
With its trouble and its strife,
Wild, startling, dim, and strange.
With its contrasts and its change,
With its trouble and its strife,
Wild, startling, dim, and strange.
A war within—without—
A hurry—a delay—
A certainty—a doubt—
A slavery and a sway.
A hurry—a delay—
A certainty—a doubt—
A slavery and a sway.
318
A fulness and a void,
A substance and a shade,
Hour after hour destroyed
By the progress it hath made.
A substance and a shade,
Hour after hour destroyed
By the progress it hath made.
A whirlwind and a calm,
An idlesse and a task,
A poison and a balm,
A vigil and a masque!
An idlesse and a task,
A poison and a balm,
A vigil and a masque!
Such, such is Human Life,
Say, rather, Human Death!—
'Tis one agony—one strife—
From the first to last of breath!
Say, rather, Human Death!—
'Tis one agony—one strife—
From the first to last of breath!
| Impressions of Italy and Other Poems | |