Rest + 

Long have I a word enshrined + 

And worshipped with a piety blind! + 

Long have I been seeking Rest + 

In the East and in the West! + 

Here and there and everywhere + 

Have I seen her shadow fair; + 

But the shadow seems to fade + 

Like the flowers of yonder glade. + 

In my lone retreat I sought + 

Her, but dreams against me fought. + 

In my nights for her I pray, + 

But with sleep she stays away. + 

Foolish is thine effort, vain⁠— + 

Fruitless, hopeless is thy pain! + 

With the march of Motion keep, + 

In thy walk and in thy sleep + 

Beyond thy finite power it lies + 

To chain the coursers of the skies. + 

Even nomads and cells minute + 

Worlds of unrest constitute. + 

Rest is no where to be found; + 

Each to all in suffering bound. + 

And no power can deliver thee, + 

Mortal, from activity. + 

In thy life as in thy death, + 

In thy heart as in thy breath, + 

On the earth as in the skies + 

Restless Motion never dies. + 

Always raging, always spinning, + 

Endless and without beginning. + 

Death, like me, is seeking Rest. + 

And all the seas are in her quest; + 

But ah, poor souls, she is beyond + 

Our grasp; we must go on and on. + 

No, nor even the grave is free + 

From the laws that shackle me; + 

New life from his worms takes wing, + 

And on his face fresh blossoms spring. + 