FAME

ALL over the world we sing of Fame,

Bright as a bubble, and hollow;

With a breath men make it and give it a name;

All over the world they sing the same,

And the beautiful bubble follow.

Its rounded, splendid, gossamer walls

Hide more than our fairy fancies:

For here, in the vaulted, antique halls,

’Mid oriel splendours, a light foot falls,

And a fairy figure dances.

And men will do for a glancing eye,

And foot that tarries never,

More, far more than look and sigh;

For men will fight, and man will die,

But follow it on for ever.

James Herbert Morse.