Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON THE DEATH OF A SISTER, by SAMUEL ROGERS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON THE DEATH OF A SISTER, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Man is born to suffer
Last Line: And now I write -- what thou shalt never see!
Subject(s): Mourning; Sisters; Bereavement


-- MAN is born to suffer. On the door
Sickness has set her mark; and now no more
Laughter within we hear, or wood-notes wild
As of a mother singing to her child;
All now in anguish from that room retire,
Where a young cheek glows with consuming fire,
And innocence breathes contagion -- all but one,
But she who gave it birth -- from her alone
The medicine cup is taken. Through the night,
And through the day, that with its dreary light
Comes unregarded, she sits silent by,
Watching the changes with her anxious eye:
While they without, listening below, above,
(Who but in sorrow know how much they love?)
From every little noise catch hope and fear,
Exchanging still, still as they turn to hear,
Whispers and sighs, and smiles all tenderness
That would in vain the starting tear repress.
Such grief was ours -- it seems but yesterday --
When in thy prime, wishing so much to stay,
'Twas thine, Maria, thine without a sigh
At midnight in a sister's arms to die!
Oh thou wert lovely -- lovely was thy frame,
And pure thy spirit as from Heaven it came?
And, when recall'd to join the blest above,
Thou died'st a victim to exceeding love,
Nursing the young to health. In happier hours,
When idle fancy wove luxuriant flowers,
Once in thy mirth thou bad'st me write on thee;
And now I write -- what thou shalt never see!





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