Alchemy of Sorrow

One with his fervor shall inform The world, and one with all his sorrow: One sees a glad, unsetting morrow, One hears the whisper of the worm.

Hermes unknown, whose hand assists My toil, and fills my dreams with fear, Through thee I am the mournful peer Of Midas, first of alchemists.

Fine gold to iron corruptible I turn, and paradise to hell; In winding-sheets of cloud and levin A dear cadaver I descry; And build upon the shores of heaven Towering proud sarcophagi