Be ye happy, if ye may, <br />In the years that pass away. <br />Ye shall pass and be forgot, <br />And your place shall know you not. <br /> <br />Other generations rise, <br />With the same hope in their eyes <br />That in yours is kindled now, <br />And the same light on their brow. <br /> <br />They shall see the selfsame sun <br />That your eyes now gaze upon, <br />They shall breathe the same sweet air, <br />And shall reck not who ye were. <br /> <br />Yet they too shall fade at last <br />In the twilight of the past, <br />They and you alike shall be <br />Lost from the world's memory. <br /> <br />Then, while yet ye breathe and live, <br />Drink the cup that life can give. <br />Be ye happy, if ye may, <br />In the years that pass away, <br /> <br />Ere the golden bowl be broken, <br />Ere ye pass and leave no token, <br />Ere the silver cord be loosed, <br />Ere ye turn again to dust. <br /> <br />`And shall this be all,' ye cry, <br />`But to eat and drink and die? <br />If no more than this there be, <br />Vanity of vanity!' <br /> <br />Yea, all things are vanity, <br />And what else but vain are ye? <br />Ye who boast yourselves the kings <br />Over all created things. <br /> <br />Kings! whence came your right to reign? <br />Ye shall be dethroned again. <br />Yet for this, your one brief hour, <br />Wield your mockery of power. <br /> <br />Dupes of Fate, that treads you down <br />Wear awhile your tinsel crown <br />Be ye happy, if ye may, <br />In the years that pass away.<br /><br />Robert Fuller Murray<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/vanity-of-vanities/
