Beside us in our seeking after pleasures, <br /> Through all our restless striving after fame, <br />Thorough all our search for worldly gains and treasures <br /> There walketh one whom no man likes to name. <br />Silent he follows, veiled of form and feature, <br /> Indifferent if we sorrow or rejoice, <br />Yet that day comes when every living creature <br /> Must look upon his face and hear his voice. <br /> <br />When that day comes to you, and Death, unmasking, <br /> Shall bar your path, and say, “Behold the end, ” <br />What are the questions that he will be asking <br /> About your past? Have you considered, friend? <br />I think he will not chide you for your sinning, <br /> Nor for your creeds or dogmas will he care; <br />He will but ask, “From your life’s first beginning <br /> How many burdens have you helped to bear? ”<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-question-3/
