They talk of short-lived pleasure--be it so--
Pain dies as quickly; stern, hard-featured pain
Expires, and lets her weary prisoner go.
The fiercest agonies have shortest reign;
And after dreams of horror, comes again
The welcome morning with its rays of peace.
Oblivion, softly wiping out the stain,
Makes the strong secret pangs of pain to cease:
Remorse is virtue's root; its fair increase
Are fruits of innocence and blessedness;
Thus joy, o'erborne and bound, doth still release
His young limbs from the chains that round him press.
Weep not that the world changes--did it keep
A stable, changeless state, 'twere cause indeed to weep.
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Comments1Just read "Mutation" and I gotta say, it's pretty intense 😮. Makes ya think about pain and sorrow, and how they don't really last forever, ya know? The whole "world changes" bit too, right? Feels kinda reassuring in these times. But what's up with "Remorse is virtue's root" line, anyone know what that means? Anyway, great poem, really spoke to me today 🙌.