"O DAY! he cannot die When thou so fair art shining! O Sun, in such a glorious sky, So tranquilly declining; He cannot leave thee now, While fresh west winds are blowing, And all around his youthful brow Thy cheerful light is glowing! Edward, awake, awake -- The golden evening gleams Warm and bright on Arden's lake -- Arouse thee from thy dreams! Beside thee, on my knee, My dearest friend! I pray That thou, to cross the eternal sea, Wouldst yet one hour delay: I hear its billows roar -- I see them foaming high; But no glimpse of a further shore Has blest my straining eye. Believe not what they urge Of Eden isles beyond; Turn back, from that tempestuous surge, To thy own native land. It is not death, but pain That struggles in thy breast -- Nay, rally, Edward, rouse again; I cannot let thee rest!" One long look, that sore reproved me For the woe I could not bear -- One mute look of suffering moved me To repent my useless prayer: And, with sudden check, the heaving Of distraction passed away; Not a sign of further grieving Stirred my soul that awful day. Paled, at length, the sweet sun setting; Sunk to peace the twilight breeze: Summer dews fell softly, wetting Glen, and glade, and silent trees. Then his eyes began to weary, Weighed beneath a mortal sleep; And their orbs grew strangely dreary, Clouded, even as they would weep. But they wept not, but they changed not, Never moved, and never closed; Troubled still, and still they ranged not -- Wandered not, nor yet reposed! So I knew that he was dying -- Stooped, and raised his languid head; Felt no breath, and heard no sighing, So I knew that he was dead. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WRITTEN FOR MY SON, AND SPOKEN BY HIM AT HIS FIRST PUTTING ON BREECHES by MARY BARBER SONNET TO GUIDO CAVALCANTI by DANTE ALIGHIERI PARADISE LOST: BOOK 1 by JOHN MILTON THE BIRDS: THE HOOPOE'S CALL TO HIS WIFE PROCNE, THE NIGHTINGALE by ARISTOPHANES IN MEMORIAM: PAUL BRIDSON by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN THE WANDERER: 2. IN FRANCE: AT HOME AFTER THE BALL by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |