Birth and desire and death and birth again.
The purgatory of a deathless soul,
Elusive bubbles which forever roll
Down restless rivers to the moaning main;
The seasons open and the seasons wane,
Eternal bells for dead millenniums toll,
Karma endures, and lays its weight of dole
Upon the tablets of the aching brain. The deeds of men are eddies in the wave,
Forever forming fainter, wider rings;
Alas! There is no potency to save,
Nor for the pain of life a healing balm.
Oh, for the Buddha's holy chastenings!
The blest Nirvana! The unending calm!