Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

-- The Hollow Men, T.S. Elliot

These are the last few stanza's of the poem from which the famous phrase comes. I love these stanzas! Good poem overall, worth a full read: http://www.shmoop.com/hollow-men/poem-text.html

#poem #poetry