Are passed away. — Better, are declining.
A tale. — Rather, a murmur. (See Note, Psalms 1:2.) Probably, from the parallelism with wrath, a moan of sadness. So in Ezekiel 2:10, “a sound of woe.” Since the cognate verb often means “meditate,” some render here thought. Theognis says,
“Gallant youth speeds by like a thought.”