Yes; on the Future Life we build, Rear crumbling monuments to fame, When Death's remorseless clasp has stilled The currents of the mortal frame! Man's labors here are all in vain, Are scattered on the cyclone blast -- Scattered afar like tiny seed, Upon a barren desert cast, If Duty and Justice be not The objects of his care and zeal; Or in the granary will rot, As time eats up the blade of steel! The universal law ordains, Nor can we change the just decree, That man to man, as man, remains, By kindred ties, each as each free! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE EVENING STAR by THOMAS CAMPBELL A SONG OF PANAMA by ALFRED DAMON RUNYON MOUNTAIN FROLIC by GEORGE LAWRENCE ANDREWS EPITAPH ON FRANCIS CHARTRES by JOHN ARBUTHNOT CELESTIAL HEIGHTS by ALFRED AUSTIN LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY - 1918 by JOHN KENDRICK BANGS THE CYNOTAPH by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM MOUNT RAINIER by HERBERT BASHFORD OVER THE ROSE-LEAVES, UNDER THE ROSE by JOHN BENNETT (1865-1956) |