WITHIN the church on All Souls' Day I knelt with those uncomforted, Who bowed their weary heads to pray Their sad prayers for the happy dead. We, with the sting of tears still hot Upon our faces, prayed for those Who have forgot all tears, forgot The long passed pageant of old woes. We of the anxious soul and brain, Prayed peace for those who ever dwell In that great calm that follows pain, Safe-housed in God's white citadel. O, futile, tender mockery! We, hampered, fettered in the strife, To pray for those glad souls made free Of the great burden that is life. Dear God, another prayer I said; Humbly I asked who might not give: @3Pray ye for us, thrice happy dead, For us who live -- for us who live!@1 | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AN ODE TO THE FRAMERS OF THE FRAME BILL by GEORGE GORDON BYRON NAPOLEON by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE THE BUNCH OF GRAPES by GEORGE HERBERT THE COMING OF GOOD LUCK by ROBERT HERRICK THE ORACLES by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN MESSIAH; A SACRED ECLOGUE IN IMITATION OF VIRGIL'S POLLIO by ALEXANDER POPE |