Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
Poems of Fancy: II. Fairies: Elves: SpritesAiry Nothings
William Shakespeare (15641616)From “The Tempest,” Act IV. Sc. 1.
O
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.