FORGET them not! -- though now their name Be but a mournful sound, Though by the hearth its utterance claim A stillness round. Though for their sakes this earth no more As it hath been may be, And shadows, never marked before, Brood o'er each tree; And though their image dim the sky, Yet, yet forget them not! Nor, where their love and life went by, Forsake the spot! They have a breathing influence there, A charm, not elsewhere found; Sad -- yet it sanctifies the air, The stream -- the ground. Then, though the wind an altered tone Through the young foliage bear, Though every flower, of something gone, A tinge may wear; Oh! fly it not! -- no @3fruitless@1 grief Thus in their presence felt, A record links to every leaf There, where they dwelt. Still trace the path which knew their tread, Still tend their garden-bower, And call them back, the holy Dead, To each lone hour! The @3holy@1 Dead! -- oh! blest we are. That we may name them so, And to their spirits look afar, Through all our woe! Blest, that the things they loved on earth, As relics we may hold, Which wakesweet thoughts of parted worth, By springs untold! Blest, that a deep and chastening power Thus o'er our souls is given, If but to bird, or song, or flower, Yet all for Heaven! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RED TURTLENECK by KAREN SWENSON THE METROPOLITAN TOWER by SARA TEASDALE ASOLANDO: EPILOGUE by ROBERT BROWNING IN THIS DARK HOUSE by EDWARD DAVISON THE DYING WORDS OF STONEWALL JACKSON by SIDNEY LANIER FOR MY OWN TOMBSTONE by MATTHEW PRIOR UPON MY LADY CARLISLE'S WALKING IN HAMPTON COURT GARDEN by JOHN SUCKLING |