| "WE are false and evanescent, and aware of our deceit, |
|
| From the straw that is our vitals to the clay that is our feet. |
|
| You may serve us if you must, and you shall have your wage of ashes,- |
|
| Though arrears due thereafter may be hard for you to meet. |
|
| |
| "You may swear that we are solid, you may say that we are strong, |
5 |
| But we know that we are neither and we say that you are wrong; |
|
| You may find an easy worship in acclaiming our indulgence, |
|
| But your large admiration of us now is not for long. |
|
| |
| "If your doom is to adore us with a doubt that's never still, |
|
| And you pray to see our faces-pray in earnest, and you will. |
10 |
| You may gaze at us and live, and live assured of our confusion: |
|
| For the False Gods are mortal, and are made for you to kill. |
|
| |
| "And you may as well observe, while apprehensively at ease |
|
| With an Art that's inorganic and is anything you please, |
|
| That anon your newest ruin may lie crumbling unregarded, |
15 |
| Like an old shrine forgotten in a forest of new trees. |
|
| |
| "Howsoever like no other be the mode you may employ, |
|
| There's an order in the ages for the ages to enjoy; |
|
| Though the temples you are shaping and the passions you are singing |
|
| Are a long way from Athens and a longer way from Troy. |
20 |
| |
| "When we promise more than ever of what never shall arrive, |
|
| And you seem a little more than ordinarily alive, |
|
| Make a note that you are sure you understand our obligations- |
|
| For there's grief always auditing where two and two are five. |
|
| |
| "There was this for us to say and there was this for you to know, |
25 |
| Though it humbles and it hurts us when we have to tell you so. |
|
| If you doubt the only truth in all our perjured composition, |
|
| May the True Gods attend you and forget us when we go." |
|
