Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE DYING OF PERE PIERRE, by JOHN MCCRAE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE DYING OF PERE PIERRE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Nay, grieve not that ye can no honour give
Last Line: Lay, tombed in splendour, in the house of god.
Subject(s): Death; God; Heaven; Dead, The; Paradise


" .... with two other priests; the same night he died, and was buried by
the shores of the lake that bears his name."—CHRONICLE

"Nay, grieve not that ye can no honour give
To these poor bones that presently must be
But carrion; since I have sought to live
Upon God's earth, as He hath guided me,
I shall not lack! Where would ye have me lie?
High heaven is higher than cathedral nave:
Do men paint chancels fairer than the sky?"
Beside the darkened lake they made his grave,
Below the altar of the hills; and night
Swung incense clouds of mist in creeping lines
That twisted through the tree-trunks, where the light
Groped through the arches of the silent pines:
And he, beside the lonely path he trod,
Lay, tombed in splendour, in the House of God.





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