I Mused on Death

I MUSED on death and immortality;
I sought to peer beyond the gates of birth;
I raised my eyes above the din and dearth.
Where groping man with curse and misery
Toils on for naught; I sent myself to see
What lies beyond the utmost cape and firth
Of mortal bound, perchance the bourne of earth
Where souls of men abide when they are free.

I soared exulting o’er the Milky Way
And winged along the gulfs by swirl and star,
And joyed to think that, when the hours were o’er,
The now and here, the noisome night and day
I should forget, — and thus with eyes afar
I missed the beggar piteous at my door.