The Last Dance

WHEN LOVE FOR HIS MAKER AWOKE IN MAN, THE DANCE BEGAN     The wave of the ocean, the leaf of the wood,     In the rhythm of motion proclaim life is good.     The stars are all swinging to metres and rhyme,     The planets are singing while suns mark the time.     The moonbeams and rivers float off in a trance,     The Universe quivers - on, on with the dance!     Our partners we pick from the best of the throng     In the ballroom of Life and go lilting along;     We follow our fancy, and choose as we will,     For waltz or for tango or merry quadrille;     But ever one partner is waiting us all     At the end of the programme, to finish the ball.     Unasked, and unwelcome, he comes without leave     And calls when he chooses, 'My dance, I believe?'     And none may refuse him, and none may say no;     When he beckons the dancer, the dancer must go.     You may hate him, and shun him; and yet in life's ball     For the one who lives well 'tis the best dance of all.