IN the evening, when the world knew he was dead, He lay amid the dust and hoar Of ages; and to a spirit attending said: "This chalky bed? -- I surely seem to have been here before?" "O yes. You have been here. You knew the place, Substanced as you, long ere your call: And if you cared to do so you might trace In this gray space Your being, and the being of men all." Thereto said he: "Then why was I called away? I knew no trouble or discontent: Why did I not prolong my ancient stay Herein for aye?" The spirit shook its head. "None knows: you went. "And though, perhaps, Time did not sign to you The need to go, dream-vision sees How Aesculapius' phantom hither flew, With Galen's, too, And his of Cos -- plague-proof Hippocrates, "And beckoned you forth, whose skill had read as theirs Maybe, had Science chanced to spell In their day, modern modes to stem despairs That mankind bears!. . . Enough. You have returned. And all is well." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HER DILEMMA; IN CHURCH by THOMAS HARDY THE MOTHER-FAITH by EVERARD JACK APPLETON UPON MY FATHERS SUDDEN & DANGEROUS SICKNESS by JOSEPH BEAUMONT II PETER II 22 by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN AN INVECTIVE AGAINST THE WORLD, SELECTION by NICHOLAS BRETON AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO EARNEST AND IMPORTUNATE PRAYER by JOHN BYROM |