SHADOWS ALL.
Reading edition
Shadows all! From the birth-robe to the pall, In this travesty of life, Hollow calm and fruitless strife, Whatsoe'er the actors seem, They are posturing in a dream; Fates may rise, and fates may fall, Shadows are we, shadows all! From what sphere Float these phantoms flickering here? From what mystic circle cast In the dim æonian Past? Many voices make reply, But they only rise to die Down the midnight mystery, While earth's mocking echoes call, Shadows, shadows, shadows all! Paul Hamilton Hayne.