Of all the universe unalterable.
We know too well
How no one thing abides awhile at all,
How all things fall,
Fall from their seat, the lamentable place,
Before their face,
Weary and pass and are no more. So we,
Since hope must be,
Look to the future, to the chance minute
That life may shoot
Some flower at least to blossom in the
night,
Since vital light
Is sure to fail us on the hideous way.
What? Must we pray?
Verily, O thou littlest babe, too weak
To stir or speak,
Capable hardly of a thought, yet seed
Of word and.deed !
To thine assured fruition we may trust
This weary dust.
We who are old, and palsied, (and so wise !)
Lift up our eyes
57