She has known death to hover near her bed And smiled to find in him another friend, Who nods, but wonders what life might have said To urge him there so anxiously to bend; Till life explains, I wanted you to see A love that kept my aged heart astir, And her to feel how precious she must be Who causes even you to bow to her: The huddled ones behold her solitude And circle round the body wistfully, Too grieved with loss to mark how death imbued With her must likewise crave her company: Might not the smile be his as well as hers, And their repose the trust that each confers? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THRENODY by RALPH WALDO EMERSON HIS REQUEST TO JULIA by ROBERT HERRICK A DIRGE FOR MCPHERSON; KILLED IN FRONT OF ATLANTA by HERMAN MELVILLE THE BELLE OF THE BALL by WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED THE MYSTIC by PHILIP JAMES BAILEY TRAVELLER BY NIGHT, SELECTION by JOANNA BAILLIE TO SARAH TAYLOR by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |