THOUGH thou liest prone and mute In this beauty-girdled place, Sweeter than the sound of lute Is thy voice unto our race. From the house that fronts the square Often, dying, thou didst gaze Up the stately steps, to where The old church above the maze Of the city rings her bells; Where the flower-girls are gay, Where Rome's traffic sinks and swells Through the livelong summer day. Cestius' pyramid, outside The Aurelian wall, thy sleep Broods above, as though in pride Such a watch and ward to keep. It is well thou restest here: For thy friends, the trees and flowers, Bend above thee close and dear, Solacing the dreamful hours. And the grass grows tenderly All about thy sleep, and skies Softly smile, and birds make glee And long shadows soothe thine eyes. In the city, stately tombs Carven rich with saint and sage, Hold in their sepulchral rooms The renowned of history's page, -- Pope or warrior or prince, Set in pomp that can not add Aught of pride or pleasure, since They are vanished, good and bad. Thou, far better, slumberest long In the large, free air of God, Companied by bloom and song, Cradled in the scented sod. * * * * * * * * * Thou may'st hear the violets grow -- Such thy wish -- and know at last That triumphant trumpets blow Thy young name, each silver blast Bruiting thee across a world. Sleep secure, and, year by year, As the flowers are unfurled, As the birds make merry cheer, May thy Spirit, blithe of tongue, Chanting deathlessly and brave, Keep our souls for ever young, Draw our hearts unto thy grave! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ORANGUTAN REHAB by KAREN SWENSON SONNET: TO A CRITIC by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON ARISTOCRACY by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON VISIONS IN VERSE: 4. CONTENT by NATHANIEL COTTON AN ACROSTIC: THE SUN by LUCRETIA MARIA DAVIDSON THE DOUBTFUL ONE by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES |