Hercules at the crossroads by Pompeo Batoni

What a dire enterprise this, a bottomless pursuit,
A lone endeavour of archaeology of the soul,
To claw through the many layers of desire’s basalt,
This desperate search for the bedrock Whole.

How many instrument-philosophies have worn out,
How many pick-axe thoughts I have shattered.
Through my many outgrowths this relentless bout
I wage by the visible day and the night sheltered.

My hours are as years of men, a year their life,
I mark my time by the laboured outcomes occult
Hiding in plain sight all my inner clash and strife,
Staging in a human frame this play most difficult.

O Director, of tragedy Thou hast had instances many,
Dispense through us the protagonist of Thy victory.