Clark Ashton Smith,
Retrospect and Forecast
(1912)
“ On Death, whose sateless mouth it fed in turn. Kingdoms abased, and Thrones that starward yearn, All are but ghouls that batten on the past. Monstrous and dread, must it forever abide This inescapable alternity? Must beauty blossom, rooted in decay, And night devour its flaming hues alway? Sickening, will Life not turn eventually, Or ravenous Death at last be satisfied? ”
