Life

Oh intolerable life which all life long
Abidest haunted by one dread of death --
Is such life life? When one considereth,
Then black seems almost white, and discord song,
Alas this solitude where swarms a throng!
Life slowly grows, and dwindles breath by breath --
Slowly grows on us, and no word it saith,
Its cords made long and all its pillars strong.
Life wanes apace -- a life that but deceives.
And works and reigns like life, and yet is dead:
Where is the life that dies not but that lives?
The sweet long life immortal, ever young.
The life that wooes us with a silver tongue.
Whither? Much said, and much more left unsaid.