'RATHER be dead than praised,' he said, That hero, like a hero dead, In this slack-sinewed age endued With more than antique fortitude! 'Rather be dead than praised!' Shall we, Who loved thee, now that Death sets free Thine eager soul, with word and line Profane that empty house of thine? Nay, -- let us hold, be mute. Our pain Will not be less that we refrain; And this our silence shall but be A larger monument to thee. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: SHACK DYE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SELF-INTERROGATION by EMILY JANE BRONTE UPON THE LOSS OF HIS MISTRESSES by ROBERT HERRICK ON ENGLISH MONSIEUR by BEN JONSON A FIESOLAN IDYL by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON TO ONE SHORTLY TO DIE by WALT WHITMAN |