LXXIII.
             
        So many worlds, so much to do,
            So little done, such things to be,
            How know I what had need of thee,
        For thou wert strong as thou wert true?

        The fame is quench’d that I foresaw,
            The head hath miss’d an earthly wreath:
            I curse not nature, no, nor death;
        For nothing is that errs from law.

        We pass; the path that each man trod
            Is dim, or will be dim, with weeds:
            What fame is left for human deeds
        In endless age? It rests with God.

        O hollow wraith of dying fame,
            Fade wholly, while the soul exults,
            And self-infolds the large results
        Of force that would have forged a name.