From child to youth; from youth to arduous man; <br /> From lethargy to fever of the heart; <br /> From faithful life to dream-dower'd days apart; <br /> From trust to doubt; from doubt to brink of ban;-- <br /> Thus much of change in one swift cycle ran <br /> Till now. Alas, the soul!--how soon must she <br /> Accept her primal immortality,-- <br /> The flesh resume its dust whence it began? <br /> <br /> O Lord of work and peace! O Lord of life! <br /> O Lord, the awful Lord of will! though late, <br /> Even yet renew this soul with duteous breath: <br /> That when the peace is garner'd in from strife, <br /> The work retriev'd, the will regenerate, <br /> This soul may see thy face, O Lord of death!<br /><br />Dante Gabriel Rossetti<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lxvi-the-heart-of-the-night/
