This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Life were a dark deceit, a demon's jest,
A falsehood and a cruel mockery
If all its high, sweet promises could be
Only an unsolved problem of the past.

Thank God, there is a future life where we
Shall find the treasures we have lost in this
Nor time, nor tide shall steal away the bliss
That rolls unbroken as a waveless sea;

Where man may start anew with tireless zeal,
Time left behind, Eternity before,
Through endless cycles rising more and more
To understand what Time could not reveal.

Unburdened by this heavy cloak of clay
To scale such heights as mortals may not climb;
To solve at last the enigma page of Time,
Triumphant o'er the despot of decay.

I would not give the Christian's weakest trust
That grasps the future life for which we long
For all the hopes so ardent, high and strong,
Of this weak life that crumbles into dust.

[ 308 ]