At the End

In the dim years, when earth's last sun is setting,
And all the lamps of heaven are burning low,
Will the gods grant remembrance or forgetting
Of joys and sorrows that possess us now?

When the day ends and there is no to-morrow,
Will there be thoughts alive to hurt us yet?
Shall we remember, keeping all our sorrow.
Or lose our little joys if we forget?

Oh sure, since joy and pain we may not sever.
Better it is to take the whole alloy.
And keep immortal grief, than lose for ever
Our slight inheritance of immortal joy.

1913