Martinus Rørbye, "Young Clergyman Reading" (1836)

1

CAN death be sleep, when life is but a dream,

And scenes of bliss pass as a phantom by ?

The transient pleasures as a vision seem,

And yet we think the greatest pain's to die.

How strange it is that man on earth should roam,

And lead a life of woe, but not forsake

His rugged path ; nor dare he view alone

His future doom which is but to awake.

John Keats (1795-1821). The complete works of John Keats. Vol. II. Glasgow: Gowars & Gray, 1921.