Why deck with flow'rs these humble mounds? Why gather round this fast decaying mold? Why doth remembrance keep her solemn rounds And wrap these sleepers in her loving fold? Why kneel, ye silent mourners, here To drop the reverential tear? Flesh is but dust when parted from the breath. Flesh is but dust, but worth of soul is gold! 'Tis not the dust we honor, but the brave And noble spirits that it once did hold. So kneel we weeping at the grave, As at the door through which have passed, To enter into mansions vast, The heroes who have gone to meet A dearer destiny than dirgeful death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DEFINITION OF LOVE by ANDREW MARVELL HUGH SELWYN MAUBERLEY: 1. E.P. ODE POUR L'ELECTION DE SON SEPULCHRE by EZRA POUND SONNET: 71 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ENGLAND IN 1819 by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY AURORA by WILLIAM ALEXANDER (1567-1640) FRAGMENT by MATILDA BARBARA BETHAM-EDWARDS GIACINTA by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: TO CORDELIA by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |