English poem
And thus proceeds the mode of human life
by David Gray (1836–1888)
And thus proceeds the mode of human life From mystery to mystery again; From God to God, thro’ grandeur, grief and strife, A hurried plunge into the dark inane Whence we had lately sprung. And is’t for ever? Ah! sense is blind beyond the gaping clay, And all the eyes of faith can see it never. We know the bright-haired sun will bring the day, Like glorious book of silent prophecy; Majestic night assume her starry throne; The wondrous seasons come and go: but we Die, unto mortal ken for ever gone. Who shall pry further? who shall kindle light In the dread bosom of the infinite?
More by David Gray
- A vale of tears, a wilderness of woe
- And, well-belovèd, is this all, this all
- Die down, O dismal day! and let me live
- Father! when I have passed, with deathly swoon
- From my sick-bed gazing upon the west
- From this entangling labyrinthine maze
- Hew Atlas for my monument; upraise
- If it must be; if it must be, O God