A Fallen House

The end has come, which never seems the end;
And thou and I, who loved so long and well,
Find at the last our Fate implacable,—
Stern Fate, who wills not that our lives shall blend,
And overthrows fair things we did intend.
The house in which long time we thought to dwell,
Was built upon a ruin—so it fell.
Great was the fall, which no man could defend.

Behold it lies there overthrown, that house!
In its fair halls no comer shall carouse;
Its broad rooms with strange silences are filled;
No fire upon its crumbling hearth shall glow—
Seeing its desolation, men shall know
On ruin of what was they may not build.