O DOUBT not thy memory liveth In the hearts of survivors on earth! And soothing the pleasure it giveth To mourners who muse on thy worth. But, though we can never forget thee, And though we believe thou art blest, We cannot but deeply regret thee, And long shall thy loss be confest. For thine was a mind richly gifted With talents not frequent in youth; Yet by vanity never uplifted Above usefulness, meekness, and truth. We had hopes it was pleasure to nourish, (Then how shall our sorrow be mute?) That those bright buds of genius would flourish, And burst into blossoms and fruit. But our hopes and our prospects are shaded, For the plant which inspir'd them hath shed Its foliage, all green and unfaded, Ere the beauty of spring-time hath fled. Like foam on the crest of the billow, Which sparkles, and sinks from the sight; Like leaf of the wind-shaken willow, Though transiently, beauteously bright;— Like dew-drops, exhal'd as they glisten; Like perfume, which dies soon as shed; Like melody, hush'd while we listen;— Is memory's dream of the dead. But if such be the objects resembling The glimpses we saw of thy soul; How much more @3enduring@1 the emblem Its hopes and its prospects unrol! That bird, which by bards is recorded, As deathless, and all but divine, Is now the fit emblem afforded Of spirits immortal as thine. Redeem'd by the God who first made thee, Unto whom be the glory alone; With the tree of Life only to shade thee, From the brightness encircling his throne: Henceforth thou art rank'd with the daughters To whom the "new song" hath been given; Whose voice, like the voice of vast waters, Everlastingly echoes in heaven! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GEORGE MOSES HORTON, MYSELF by GEORGE MOSES HORTON SONNET: 21 by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL SONNET TO MASTER GABRIELL HARVEY, DOCTOR OF LAWES by EDMUND SPENSER PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 46. AL-WASI'H by EDWIN ARNOLD LINES TO GRIEF by ANN ELIZA BLEECKER |