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Epilogue.
“ET EGO IN ARCADIA FUI.”
On happy hills of springy thyme,
Where winds refreshed with odours blow,
In dewy vales where round the lime
Brown bees go buzzing to and fro,
This gracious gift was given me,
That I should be in Arcady.
Where winds refreshed with odours blow,
In dewy vales where round the lime
Brown bees go buzzing to and fro,
This gracious gift was given me,
That I should be in Arcady.
I did not gather honey there,
I shore no flock, I milked no kine;
The empty sweetness of the air
Sustained me then, for which I pine.
My hunger now must nourish me,
For I was once in Arcady.
I shore no flock, I milked no kine;
The empty sweetness of the air
Sustained me then, for which I pine.
My hunger now must nourish me,
For I was once in Arcady.
Therefore I go with empty hands,
And girt about with nakedness,
To pastures of untrodden lands,
Whose shepherd's name is Pitiless.
In sooth it doth not profit me
That I have been in Arcady.
And girt about with nakedness,
To pastures of untrodden lands,
Whose shepherd's name is Pitiless.
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That I have been in Arcady.
My pleasance was a dreamy song,
Too faint for men to hear below,
Though gusts thereof should linger long
Between the sunshine and the snow;
Will they for this remember me,
Saying, He was of Arcady?
Too faint for men to hear below,
Though gusts thereof should linger long
Between the sunshine and the snow;
Will they for this remember me,
Saying, He was of Arcady?
But they will say, “Why lengthen out
Dim echoes of a single air?
Why toss one dainty thought about
Till we forget it might be fair?”
And speak harsh things concerning me,
Not in the speech of Arcady.
Dim echoes of a single air?
Why toss one dainty thought about
Till we forget it might be fair?”
And speak harsh things concerning me,
Not in the speech of Arcady.
They seem to see; a darker hour
Shall show if they or I saw right;
For bondage is the price of power,
And leafless trees let through the light.
So write upon my tomb for me,
“I, too, have been in Arcady.”
Shall show if they or I saw right;
For bondage is the price of power,
And leafless trees let through the light.
So write upon my tomb for me,
“I, too, have been in Arcady.”
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