LIFE! I know not what thou art, <br />But know that thou and I must part; <br />And when, or how, or where we met, <br />I own to me 's a secret yet. <br />But this I know, when thou art fled, <br />Where'er they lay these limbs, this head, <br />No clod so valueless shall be <br />As all that then remains of me. <br /> <br />O whither, whither dost thou fly? <br />Where bend unseen thy trackless course? <br /> And in this strange divorce, <br />Ah, tell where I must seek this compound I? <br />To the vast ocean of empyreal flame <br /> From whence thy essence came <br />Dost thou thy flight pursue, when freed <br />From matter's base encumbering weed? <br /> Or dost thou, hid from sight, <br /> Wait, like some spell-bound knight, <br />Through blank oblivious years th' appointed hour <br />To break thy trance and reassume thy power? <br />Yet canst thou without thought or feeling be? <br />O say, what art thou, when no more thou'rt thee? <br /> <br />Life! we have been long together, <br />Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; <br /> 'Tis hard to part when friends are dear; <br /> Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear;-- <br /> Then steal away, give little warning, <br /> Choose thine own time; <br />Say not Good-night, but in some brighter clime <br /> Bid me Good-morning!<br /><br />Anna Lætitia Barbauld<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/life-15/
