| Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916. | | | XVIII. The Great Mystery
The Soliloquy of Cato | | By Joseph Addison (1672–1719) |
| | | ETERNITY!—thou pleasing-dreadful thought! | |
| Through what variety of untried being— | |
| Through what new scenes and changes must we pass! | |
| The wide, the unbounded prospect lies before me; | |
| But shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon it…. | 5 |
| What means this heaviness, that hangs upon me? | |
| This lethargy, that creeps through all my senses? | |
| Nature, oppressed and harassed out with care, | |
| Sinks down to rest. This once, I’ll favour her! | |
| That my awakened Soul may take her flight, | 10 |
| Renewed in all her strength, and fresh with life, | |
| An off’ring fit for Heaven! Let guilt, or fear, | |
| Disturb Man’s rest: Cato knows neither of them! | |
| Indiff’rent in his choice, to sleep, or die…. | | | | |
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