Fragment LXXIX: For human nature Hope remains alone

For human nature Hope remains alone
Of all the deities—the rest are flown.
Faith is departed ; Truth and Honour dead ;
And all the Graces too, my friend, are fled.
The scanty specimens of living worth,
Dwindled to nothing, and extinct on earth.
Yet, whilst I live and view the light of heaven,
(Since Hope remains, and never has been driven
From the distracted world,) the single scope
Of my devotion is to worship Hope:
When hecatombs are slain, and altars burn,
With all the deities ador’d in turn,
Let Hope be present; and with Hope, my friend,
Let every sacrifice commence and end.
Yes! insolence, injustice, every crime,
Rapine and wrong, may prosper for a time ;
Yet shall they travel on to swift decay
That tread the crooked path and hollow way.