Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BY THE GRAVE OF HENRY TIMROD, by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: When last we parted - thy frail hand in mine Last Line: His face I see, and on his face -- a smile! Subject(s): Timrod, Henry (1828-1867) | ||||||||
WHEN last we parted -- thy frail hand in mine -- Above us smiled September's passionless sky, And touched by fragrant airs, the hillside pine Thrilled in the mellow sunshine tenderly; So rich the robe on nature's slow decay, We scarce could deem the winter tide was near, Or lurking death, masked in imperial grace; Alas! that autumn day Drew not more close to winter's empire drear Than thou, my heart! to meet grief face to face! I clasped thy tremulous hand, nor marked how weak Its answering grasp; and if thine eyes did swim In unshed tears, and on thy fading cheek Rested a nameless shadow, gaunt and dim, -- My soul was blind; fear had not touched her sight To awful vision; so, I bade thee go, Careless, and tranquil as that treacherous morn; Nor dreamed how soon the blight Of long-implanted seeds of care would throw Their nightshade flowers above the springing corn. Since then, full many a year hath risen and set, With spring-tide showers, and autumn pomps unfurled O'er gorgeous woods, and mountain walls of jet -- While love and loss, alternate, ruled the world; Till now once more we meet -- my friend and I -- Once more, once more -- and thus, alas! we meet -- Above, a rayless heaven; beneath, a grave; Oh, Christ! and dost thou lie Neglected here, in thy worn burial-sheet? Friend! were there none to shield thee, none to save? Ask of the winter winds -- scarce colder they Than that strange land -- thy birthplace and thy tomb: Ask of the sombre cloud-wracks trooping gray, And grim as hooded ghosts at stroke of doom; At least, the winds, though chill, with gentler sweep Seem circling round and o'er thy place of rest, While the sad clouds, as clothed in tenderer guise, Do lowly bend, and weep O'er the dead poet, in whose living breast Dumb nature found a voice, how sweet and wise! Once more we meet, once more -- my friend and I -- But ah! his hand is dust, his eyes are dark; Thy merciless weight, thou dread mortality, From out his heart hath crushed the latest spark Of that warm life, benignly bright and strong; Yet no; we have not met -- my friend and I -- Ashes to ashes in this earthly prison! Are these, O child of song, Thy glorious self, heir of the stars and sky? Thou art not here, not here, for thou hast risen! Death gave thee wings, and lo! thou hast soared above All human utterance and all finite thought; Pain may not hound thee through that realm of love, Nor grief, wherewith thy mortal days were fraught, Load thee again -- nor vulture want, that fed Even on thy heart's blood, wound thee; idle, then, Our bitter sorrowing; what though bleak and wild Rests thine uncrowned head? Known art thou now to angels and to men -- Heaven's saint and earth's brave singer undefiled. Even as I spake in broken under-breath The winds drooped lifeless; faintly struggling through The heaven-bound pall, which seemed a pall of death, One cordial sunbeam cleft the opening blue; Swiftly it glanced, and settling, softly shone O'er the grave's head; in that same instant came From the near copse a bird-song half divine; "Heart," said I, "hush thy moan, List the bird's singing, mark the heavenborn flame, God-given are these -- an omen and a sign!" In the bird's song an omen his must live! In the warm glittering of that golden beam, A sign his soul's majestic hopes survive, Raised to fruition o'er life's weary dream. So now I leave him, low, yet, restful here; So now I leave him, high-exalted, far Beyond all memory of earth's guilt or guile; Hark! tis his voice of cheer, Dropping, methinks, from some mysterious star; His face I see, and on his face -- a smile! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A STORM IN THE DISTANCE (AMONG THE GEORGIAN HILLS) by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE ASPECTS OF THE PINES by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE BEYOND THE POTOMAC by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE CHARLESTON by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE IN HARBOR by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE MACDONALD'S RAID - A.D. 1780 by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE PATIENCE by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE PRE-EXISTENCE by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE THE BATTLE OF CHARLESTON HARBOR by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE THE ROSE AND THORN by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE VICKSBURG by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE A BACHELOR-BOOKWORM'S COMPLAINT OF LAST PRESENTIAL ELECTION by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE |
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