The end of all—of everything before;

Where naught but consequence and fate attend

Life’s fading hope that once the gods implored.

Each dawn reborn from out of darkest night,

Then heaven on earth, to blackness plunged again;

The promised glory of the rising light—

All Stygian sins by fervent faith washed clean.

Yet why should darkness wear the mask of sin?

Who has not gloried in the waxing gloam,

Or basked in velvet arms embraced therein—

Soft warmth that beckons weary spirits home.

Celestial wheels perplex the mortal mind,

By light or shadow, heresies divine.