LAMENT Is now the time to praise things that need praising, or to put right what has been misused? The reign might be long but it exhausts itself. The people of one land seek another. What strong hands put up an evil wind wrecks easily, within an hour the well-founded house falls. Emptiness swallows the beautiful faces, rings drop from shrunken joints, the bronze bells no longer sound, and we are left to praise things that need praising.