Ay, still from out Fate’s gloomy towers
I see thee come to me again,
With wreaths of everlasting flowers,
And songs funereal in thy train.
And when life’s curses rock me nightly,
And hushed I lie in slumber’s hold,
Thy sable form comes treading lightly
To wrap me in its garments fold.
Thy brother let me be, and wholly
Repay thee all I owe, tho’ late:
My aching heart, my melancholy,
My songs to thee I dedicate.
[O Long The Way]
O long the way and short the day,
No light in tower or town,
The waters roar and far the shore—
My ship, my ship goes down!
’Tis all in vain to strive again,
My cry the billows drown,
The fight is done, the wind has won—
My ship, my ship goes down!
Bright sun, adieu! Thou’lt shine anew
When skies no longer frown,
But I—the deafening billows crash—
My ship, my ship goes down!
[To The Fortune Seeker]
A little more, a little less!—
O shadow-hunters pitiless,
Why then so eager, say!
What’er you leave the grave will take,
And all you gain and all you make,
It will not last a day!
Full soon will come the Reaper Black,
Cut thorns and flowers mark his track
Across Life’s meadow blithe.
Oppose him, meet him as you will,
Old Time’s behests he harkens still,
Unsparing wields his scythe.