FOR ever and for ever
The changeless oceans roar :
And dash their thundering surges down
Upon the sounding shore :
Yet this swift soul, this lightning will,
Shall these, while they roll on, be still ?
For ever and for ever
The eternal mountains rise,
And lift their virgin snows on high
To meet the silent skies.
Yet shall this soul which measures all,
While these stand steadfast, sink and fall?
For ever and for ever
The swift suns roll through space ;
From age to age they wax and wane,
Each in its ordered place :
Yet shall this soul, whose inner eye
Foretells their cycles, fade and die ?
For ever and for ever
We have been, and we are,
Unchanging as the ocean wave,
Unresting as the star :
Though suns stand still, and time be o'er,
We are, and shall be, evermore.
