free-verse9 lines
Verses
by Ernest Christopher DowsonVitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam
They are not long, the weeping and the laughter.
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.