Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO ALL FRIENDS, by FRANCIS CHARLES MCDONALD


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO ALL FRIENDS, by                    
First Line: When this corruptible must be
Last Line: Ring with it. I shall be there!
Subject(s): Friendship; Funerals; Parties; Burials


When this corruptible must be
Got rid of, do not make for me
A solemn funeral, nor prepare

A ritual, nor mark with care
The burial-place of my old bones
With rose-bushes and ugly stones . . .

I fear a pious epitaph
Would make the sad survivors laugh.

But since I must be buried, go
Lightly with me, that men may know
How happy we shall all be when
We find a way to meet again;
And where you put me, in that place
I shall be quiet, by God's grace.

I shall be quiet? That thing, -- I?
These be the signs to know me by:

When, on an autumn night, you feel
Home-sick for God-knows-where, and steal
Out into darkness, wistfully . . .
There in the darkness I shall be.

Or on a spring night, when the air
Is full of lilacs everywhere,
And suddenly, not knowing why,
You stop and wonder . . . That is I.

Or when, on summer nights, the flash
Of imminent lightning, and the crash
Of thunder waken you from your sleep,
Come, -- join the vigils I shall keep!

But, winter nights, I shall not haunt
The lonely roads, nor in the gaunt
Ungenial gardens shall I be,
Crouching for shelter by a tree . . .

God, no! But let your fancy stray
To some wild snowy yesterday,
And stir the fire. Put out the light,
And say: "We have with us to-night . . ."

Do not spend your money on stones
To set above my mortal bones,
But give a party. Let the air
Ring with it. I shall be there!





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