VII
Reading edition
Hew Atlas for my monument; upraise A pyramid for my tomb, that, undestroyed By rank, oblivion and the hungry void, My name shall echo through prospective days. O careless conqueror! cold, abysmal grave! Is it not sad—is it not sad, my heart— To smother young ambition, and depart Unhonoured and unwilling, like death’s slave? No rare immortal remnant of my thought Embalms my life; no poem, firmly reared Against the shock of time, ignobly feared— But all my life’s progression come to nought. Hew Atlas! build a pyramid in a plain! Oh, cool the fever burning in my brain!