Ash Wednesday

Because I don not hope to turn again
Because I don not hope
Because I don not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(...)
Why should I mourn the vanished power of the usual reign?

Because I don not hope to know again
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I don not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is nothing again

Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessed face
(...)
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice

And pray God to have mercy upon us
And I pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I don not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us

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Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death
Pray for us now and at the hour of our death

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- Eliot