The flames that licked his bronzed Body into deathless ash Have leaped into a giant flame And burned and blackened all the sky; For beauty burned and died with him. No stars can shine again; Our hearts can never smile; These lips of ours can never part in mirth; For in the dust about our feet, Trampled into earth, are the white ashes of a man, Who went to his death in a black flame. The clouds above are black with soot While bolts of lightning, finger-like, Point down in shame at this smoldering fire, This heap of nauseating ash; For God sees and disapproves But, American-like, does not act. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BABY BELL by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE CHINESE NIGHTINGALE; A SONG IN CHINESE TAPESTRIES by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY ON THE LIFE OF MAN by WALTER RALEIGH ON THE SUN COMING OUT IN THE AFTERNOON by HENRY DAVID THOREAU PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 21. YAKBUZU WA YABSUTU by EDWIN ARNOLD PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 22. AL-BASIT by EDWIN ARNOLD VERSES SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN IN A BURIAL-GROUND .. SOCIETY OF FRIENDS by BERNARD BARTON |