Again the enemy hath bent his bow; Again we mourn a friend's untimely fall; Again we feel the oft recurring woe; Again we contemplate the end of all. The place he filled shall know him never more; Silent that voice, those lips nor smile or move; We cherish, now, his many sufferings o'er, The ever dear memorials of his love. His faults and failings we forget; the tomb Shall hide them all; but, shining as the sun, His many solid virtues shall illume, And cheer our path till life's short race is run. Thou King of Terrors, let the loved ones stay! Ah! why so partial to the shining mark? Is life so long that we must haste away? Why glory in destruction -- gloomy -- dark! And why may not those genial hearts, that blend In love and lasting friendship, that bestow On life, the charm that nothing else can lend, Escape that fatal, final, dreaded blow? Friendship and love are Paradise begun; A bliss that mortals with the angels share; Thus linked with those above, may we not shun The grave? Just God! Thy NO is written there! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SUMMER DAYS by WATHEN MARK WILKS CALL A DREAM, AFTER READING DANTE'S EPISODE OF PAULO & FRANCESCA by JOHN KEATS MONNA INNOMINATA, A SONNET OF SONNETS: 7 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI MUSIC IN THE NIGHT by HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD THE GREEN LINNET by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH DESCRIPTIONS by VIRGINIA A. ALLIN |