Oblivion

“Only the dead could afford oblivion.”

“Oblivion is not to be hired.”

“For those sacred powersCan be entombed in their celestial breasts.”

“It is not in the storm nor in the strifeWhen all is lost, except a little life.”

“Without oblivion, there is no remembrance possible. When both oblivion and memory are wise, when the general soul of man is clear, melodious, true, there may come a modern Iliad as memorial of the Past.”

“And o'er the past oblivion stretch her wing.”

“He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.”

“What's past and what's to come is strew'd with husksAnd formless ruin of oblivion.”

“But from your mind's chilled skyA dead fly in a dusty window-crack.”