Again the enemy hath bent his bow; Again we mourn a friend's untimely fall; Again we feel the oft recurring woe; Again we contemplate the end of all. The place he filled shall know him never more; Silent that voice, those lips nor smile or move; We cherish, now, his many sufferings o'er, The ever dear memorials of his love. His faults and failings we forget; the tomb Shall hide them all; but, shining as the sun, His many solid virtues shall illume, And cheer our path till life's short race is run. Thou King of Terrors, let the loved ones stay! Ah! why so partial to the shining mark? Is life so long that we must haste away? Why glory in destruction -- gloomy -- dark! And why may not those genial hearts, that blend In love and lasting friendship, that bestow On life, the charm that nothing else can lend, Escape that fatal, final, dreaded blow? Friendship and love are Paradise begun; A bliss that mortals with the angels share; Thus linked with those above, may we not shun The grave? Just God! Thy NO is written there! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MY LOVE'S GUARDIAN ANGEL by WILLIAM BARNES TO MY EXCELLENT LUCASIA, ON OUR FRIENDSHIP. 17TH JULY 1651 by KATHERINE PHILIPS THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 34. THE DARK GLASS by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI TO JOANNA, ON SENDING ME THE LEAF OF A FLOWER ... WORDSWORTH'S GARDEN by BERNARD BARTON TO LOVE IS TO BE BORN ANEW by MARION LOUISE BLISS POEM, ADDRESSED TO COLLECTOR MITCHELL by ROBERT BURNS THIRD BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 11 by THOMAS CAMPION HARK, HARK, THE LARK; A POET'S REQUIEM. JOSEPHINE PRESTON PEABODY by ISABEL FISKE CONANT |