A Memorial

Thy possessions are all naught
Which on earth did you to men exhibit
Therefore shall it be
Than to thee were all earth's riches!

Bestowed them for the Lord himself
Thou were at a beginning
A bird, a fish in the sea, or a beast of the earth
Traversing the fields, a brute without understanding
Yet in the waste of creatures, the fiercest there!

Though thou were of worm the worst
Did you not become a man?
And answer on that great day
When shall the sins be exposed!

Then will all the world hear the deeds of men
What will you there on doomsday say?
When there shall be no joy
Then it shall go its way
Seek hell's abyss
Not heaven's joys
The dust shall be lie!

Shall drink in swarms the carcass
Thirsty for corruption
The tongue be drawn asunder
Into ten parts!

To the hungry ones for food
Not wisely in words converse
With the accursed ghost
To every man
As a memorial
Of mind sagacious!