A fearful tumble

I was once a light spirit
Soaring high above the skies
I cared nothing of earthly cares
Nor the petty laws of life
All myself encased in joy
As I greeted each dawn
Aroused with sweet songs.

On clouds of gaeity I floated
Soothed by balmy winds
Bathed in soft light
My conscience void of guilt
No burden troubled my soul
Only voice of innocence
Filled my being to the brim.

Then I took a fearful tumble
And down I came to earth
All manner of treachery
Reared their ugly heads
Spinning webs of intrigue
All around my fallen state
God's creatures my fearsom foes.

Vapours of deceit encircled me
Everywhere tentacles of dread crawled
I recoiled from Man's foulness
Nor shared their empty discourse
Nor engaged in shallow plots
Into my shell I withdrew
Transformed into a recluse.

Where's truth? Where's goodness?
Long I mused the state of Man
In whom burned fire divine
But sullied by gross passions
Driven by instincts base, crude
All sublime qualities distorted
Man is but mere art of duplicity.

I yearned to break free
To take wings again
To glide, to drift, to waft
To rise above human meanness
Drinking deep the nectar of life
Never more to taste misery
Never ever to have human company.

Gods of the air, trees, clouds
Of mountains, rivers, winds
Gambolling sprightly mocked me
For my pathetic isolation
What wretched mortals below!
My clayey soul thus imprisoned
Only lamentations now filled my cell.