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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


AN INCIDENT IN A CHURCH by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER

First Line: AS ONE WHOSE EYES, BY GLEAM OF WATERS CAUGHT
Last Line: THE SYMBOL OF THE HOLIEST DEATH OF ALL.
Subject(s): CHURCHES; CATHEDRALS;

As one whose eyes, by gleam of waters caught,
Should find them strewn with pansies, so to me
It chanced that morning, as I bowed the knee,
Soliciting th' approach of hallow'd thought;
I dreamed not that so dear a tomb was nigh;
My sidelong glance the lucid marble drew,
And, turning round about enquiringly,
I found it letter'd with the names I knew;
Three precious names I knew, and loved withal,
Yea, knew and lov'd, albeit too briefly known -
Louisa, Henry, and the boy just grown
To boyhood's prime, as each received the call;
And, over all, carv'd in the same white stone,
The symbol of the holiest death of all.



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