Ii

Well, what of it then? if the hate of the world and of men Make wreck of your dreams again? What of it then If contumely and sneer, And ignorant jibe and jeer, Be heaped upon all that you do and dream: And the irresistible stream Of events overwhelm and submerge All effort--or so it may seem? Not all, not all shall be lost, Not all, in the merciless gurge And pitiless surge!-- Though you see it tempestuously tossed, Though you see it sink down or sweep by, Not in vain did you strive, not in vain! The struggle, the longing and toil Of hand and of heart and of brain, Not in vain was it all, say I! For out of the wild turmoil And seething and soil Of Time, some part of the whole will arise, Arise and remain, In spite of the wrath of the skies And the hate of men.-- What of it then, say I! yea, what of it then!