HOW awful is the presence of the dead! The hours rebuked, stand silent at their side; Passions are hushed before that stern repose; Two, and two only, sad exception share -- Sorrow and love, -- and these are paramount. How deep the sorrow, and how strong the love! Seeming as utterly unfelt before. Ah! parting tries their depths. At once arise Affection's treasures, never dreamed till then. Death teaches heavy lessons hard to bear; And most it teaches us what we have lost, In losing those who loved us. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LOVE POEM by KAREN SWENSON FALSE FRIENDS-LIKE by WILLIAM BARNES THE FRIEND OF HUMANITY AND THE KNIFE-GRINDER by GEORGE CANNING TOM BOWLING ['S EPITAPH] by CHARLES DIBDIN THE VOICELESS by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES MY BEAUTIFUL LADY by THOMAS WOOLNER |