Life, Oh intolerable life which all life long

Oh intolerable life which all life long
  Abidest haunted by one dread of death—
  Is such life life ? When one considereth,
Then black seems almost white, and discord song.
Alas this solitude where swarms a throng!
  Life slowly grows, and dwindles breath by breath—
  Slowly grows on us, and no word it saith,
Its cords made long and all its pillars strong.
Life wanes apace—a life that but deceives,
  And works and reigns like life, and yet is dead:
Where is the life that dies not but that lives?
The sweet long life immortal, ever young,
The life that wooes us with a silver tongue,
  Whither? Much said, and much more left unsaid.