A CHURCH-YARD—aye, but Spring had shaken down Her roses like a shower of sweet snow; There was a bird where'er a bird could sing, There was a rose where'er a rose could grow, And all the long, pale grass smelt sweet of Spring. The trees had leaves half shut, like dreams half dreamed, And here a bird and there a bud was set; A linnet sang so sweetly overhead, So glad and sweet, 'twas easy to forget That underneath the roses lay the dead. Two maidens stood there in the radiant noon: One plucked the roses, fair as they were frail, And mingled with the birds her happy breath; The other pondered, thoughtful-browed and pale, Upon that mystery which men call Death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON THE DEATH OF DR. SWIFT by JONATHAN SWIFT VORTICIST POEM ON LOVE by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS INSCRIPTIONS: 8 by MARK AKENSIDE AN EPITAPH ON A DUTCH CAPTAIN by PHILIP AYRES TO THE GIRL WHO HELPED IN THE WAR by JOSEPHINE DODGE DASKAM BACON |