Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A FUNERAL, by NORMAN ROWLAND GALE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A FUNERAL, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We carried you one sullen winter day
Last Line: Not lovely, friend of friends, for you were dead.
Subject(s): Funerals; Grief; Winter; Burials; Sorrow; Sadness


WE carried you one sullen winter day
Along a road of no return for you,
No coming back for you, O friend.
We bore the body, for the soul, men say,
Unviewed, had sped into the angels' view
And left the world to circle to its end.
We bore you on our shoulders though the wind
Came o'er the hedges with a cry that made
Us tremble in the mire—still we bore
You safe into the little church, and prayed
In tears.

Ah, wise in action and in words, most wise,
We may not gaze into your earnest eyes
And in their noble steadfastness admire
Pure heart, clean mind, and flame of sacred fire
To burn up evil and attain the skies!
For in a searching wind we, tearful, bore
You safe into the church—our spirits sore
To think that we should walk with you no more;
And when the priest read comfort from his book,
How cold it was to us who might not look
Upon your face!

And then anew in tenderness we raised
Your body up and placed it near the grave;
But God our strength and Christ our hope be praised
That we shall gaze on you as Mary gazed
On the Redeemer when He rose to save!
Slowly, as falls a tear that slowly starts
From some great agony, the coffin sank,
But all your heart was treasured in our hearts;
And when the Sexton from the earthen bank
Dropt clods upon you, tears fell warm and fast,
For though your eyes were closed and low your head,
It was as if you lived—and we were dead!

Whether along the lane or by the field
We all sobbed homeward, hard it is to tell!
A blackbird in the coppice close-concealed
Piped out of tune to grief within our breasts
And jarred against the unseen bell that pealed—
A late lark's song still wavered overhead,
Not beautiful, O Friend, for you were dead—
Not lovely, Friend of friends, for you were dead.





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