The Mystery

Year after year
The leaf and the shoot;
The babe and the nestling,
The worm at the root;
The bride at the altar,
The corpse on the bier —
The Earth and its story,
Year after year.

Whither are tending,
And whence do they rise,
The cycles of changes,
The worlds in their skies,
The seasons that roll'd
Ere I flash'd from the gloom,
And will roll on as now
When I'm dust in the tomb?