Remark on mindless fervours

OH, you sphinxes of the old, everlasting earth,
Your green world tumbles and orbits the sun;
Your pale moon tumbles and orbits the earth;
Yet below the spheres of your light, some men
Still tumble and orbit the old race-course.
Do they think themselves celestial orbs too,
Hurtling mindlessly along endless paths,
With little care and even less regrets?
OH, you all-knowing sphinxes, tell me this,
Do you think we have yet to grow tired,
That like children we still loudly applaud and boo,
When a flaming chariot is seen, tumbling
Towards high walls, whilst all the audience
Laughs and marvels at such a strange sight?
Or perhaps you think, that we have grown old already
And are like the idle old men, with nothing better to do
Than to bet on the course of the burning wheel,
Or analyse the machinations of some captive youths,
Running towards an inferno, barefoot and with no regrets?
I assure you it is not so, for we have seen it all before,
And besides, all this bread has grown stale,
And our tastes have drifted, like some heavy old clouds.
SO let the moon and earth tumble and orbit, mindless as they are;
But tell me, oh sphinxes, should we not do better?

Dreams of Coffee

Dream on! Oh youth of day,
And stretch your legs below the table;
Soon the dreams of coffee will come to you,
Whether you be sitting alone,
Together with your spectres of mild mindfulness,
Or amongst pleasant and genial company,
And surrounded by waxing waters of conversation.

So dream; oh dream on!
And wave your hand within or without;
As like nymphs, gathering in woods whilst
Circling a sleeping minstrel, or like muses,
Hearkening to the pipe of a flute, these dreams
That you shall neither avoid nor pass
Will enter within, through the holes in your ears.

So dream on! And drink the draught of day,
You sleepy-eyed youth, for these grand dreams
Shall wake your idle ambitions, and serve them
The supper of intoxicating self-absorption.
So drink that draught, and whether it be in Babylon,
Or in China you wish to be; so be it,
The servings shall be the hanging gardens,
And the forbidden palaces shall be scrawled into the napkins.

So dream on! O' youth of day,
And stretch your legs below the table.
Whilst you pass your worries along for a while,
Don't you worry a bit, but sip for sipping,
And when in time, these dreams long dispelled
You will be emptied of the bitter drink;
Fear not, for not alone shall they leave you -
Those sweet dreams of coffee.