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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SYMPATHY (1) by JOHN BANISTER TABB

First Line: TIS IN THE SILENT ISTHMUS-HOUR OF TIME
Last Line: A GRAVE WITH DEATHLESS SYMPATHY IS WET.
Subject(s): GRAVES; MORNING; TOMBS; TOMBSTONES;

'Tis in the silent isthmus-hour of time,
Where light and darkness have alternate birth,
And nature in her agony sublime
Shrouds with a veil of mystery the earth
That, as a mist low-creeping through the gloom,
A wandering shadow clasps a nameless tomb --
All night the cypress sighs; the waning moon
Sinks, pale with vigil, where the sun has set;
The morning wakes; and, lo! an altar strewn --
A grave with deathless sympathy is wet.



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