"MISERRIMUS," and neither name nor date, Prayer, text, or symbol, graven upon the stone; Nought but that word assigned to the unknown, That solitary word -- to separate From all, and cast a cloud around the fate Of him who lies beneath. Most wretched one, 'Who' chose his epitaph? -- Himself alone Could thus have dared the grave to agitate, And claim, among the dead, this awful crown; Nor doubt that He marked also for his own Close to these cloistral steps a burial-place, That every foot might fall with heavier tread, Trampling upon his vileness. Stranger, pass Softly! -- To save the contrite, Jesus bled. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MORITURI SALUTAMUS [WE WHO ARE TO DIE SALUTE YOU] by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE ORIGIN OF DIDACTIC POETRY by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL THE TURN OF THE ROAD by JANE BARLOW TRAVELLING GIPSIES by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE TO A FRIEND, WITH A VOLUME OF VERSES by MATHILDE BLIND SIR W. TRELOAR'S DINNER FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN AN ODD CONCEIT by NICHOLAS BRETON WINTER NIGHTFALL by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES EPITAPH ON ONE DROWNED IN THE SNOW by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |