Once life was joy, not joyous service done—

Quick days of selfish rapture, broad, not deep;

The world was like a picture, and the sun

Rose for the gilding of a dreamy sleep.

II.

We woke; and life was labor; naught of glee

Was left, for deepest-rooted toil remained;

And as we delved no end was there to see,

And suns but glimmered on the dross we gained.

III.