How fine this sap-filled Youth did seem!
Avid for life, o joy! ... so gentle in his dream.
How he bore his head, or laid it down gladly!
Scenting the wind for love! ...enduring it sadly.
Oh, what a Nobody! ...rancour-less, today,
He has seen Fortune, returning, smile his way;
He’ll smile no more than before, he knows
What all that costs, and how it goes.
His Heart is weightier, says hello in prose,
He’s highly prized...this God is something, and it shows;
No longer walks, hands in empty pockets, all alone.
In his glory, which he bears in funeral dress,
You’ll recognise him, done, banal, and famous, no less....
You’ll recognise him, then, that unknown.