A Memorial

Thy possessions are all naught,
Which on earth did you to men exhibit.
Therefore shall it be,
Than to thee were all earth's riches!

Bestowed them for the lord himself,
Thou were at a beginning
A bird, a fish in the sea, or a beast of the earth,
Traversing the fields, a brute without understanding
Yet in the waste of creatures, the fiercest there!

Though thou were of worm the worst,
Did you not become a man?
And answer on that great day,
When shall the sins be exposed!

Then will all the world hear the deeds of men,
What will you there on doomsday say?
When there shall be no joy,
Then it shall go its way,
Seek hell's abyss,
Not heaven's joys,
The dust shall be lie!

Shall drink in swarms the carcass,
Thirsty for corruption,
The tongue be drawn asunder,
Into ten parts!

To the hungry ones for food,
Not wisely in words converse,
With the accursed ghost,
To every man
As a memorial,
Of mind sagacious!