And all returns to Thee, alone eternal, <br />And all Thee returning. <br />Oh Death, in Thy vast shadow, <br />Simple and bare we languish, <br />Not happy, but from the anguish <br />Of life at last set free. The night profoundly <br />Falls on the shaken spirit, <br />And dark in dark confuses; <br />The withered soul sourage and hope refuses; <br />Spent and uncaring, <br />Free now from sorrow and from fear for ever, <br />We lie here undespairing <br />Through void eternity. <br />We lived... And as a phantom from a dream of terror <br />Wanders into the day, <br />And draws across the speechless souls of children <br />A memory and a fear, <br />We, as we linger here, <br />Are haunted still by life: but fears of children <br />Haunt us not now. What were we? <br />What was that bitter point in time <br />That bore the name of life? <br />Mysterious, stupendous, <br />Lost in our thought that hidden country lies: <br />As in our day of life there lay <br />The secret land of death. And as from dying <br />Our living souls drew back, so now they draw <br />Back from the flame of life, <br />Simple and bare to languish, <br />Not happy, but not in anguish; <br />For happiness we know <br />Fate upon life or death will not bestow.<br /><br />Count Giacomo Leopardi<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/chorus-of-the-dead/
