Oh thou “teterrima causa” of all “belli”—
Thou gate of Life and Death—thou nondescript!
Whence is our exit and our entrance—well I
May pause in pondering how all souls are dipped
In thy perennial fountain:—how man fell I
Know not, since Knowledge saw her branches stripped
Of her first fruit; but how he falls and rises
Since—thou hast settled beyond all surmises.