And I shall tell to death, what in my heart
Of Hamlet's nature I became aware,
When by a swarm of sorrows I was riven:
—Naught from me hast thou power to rend apart:
For in this world my body hath no share,
And to the next my spirit has been given.
3. THE IMPOTENCE OF DEATH.
He, from whom death his life hath taken away
Hath suffered naught, for it was ne'er his own:
Who keeps his spirit's strength concealed, unknown,
His whole life long in death's dominion lay.
But before death I like a spring shall stay,
Whence unto rivers potency hath flown;
Dread obstacles that in its course are sown,
Hold it not back,—o'er lands and towns its sway
It casts around with undiminished might:
And when the hour of my last breath is near,
To gaze upon my end I shall not fear.
I shall dissolve, and many a stainless tear
Shall be aquiver in that deathless light
With whose array my spirit is bedight.
