"MISERRIMUS," and neither name nor date, Prayer, text, or symbol, graven upon the stone; Nought but that word assigned to the unknown, That solitary word -- to separate From all, and cast a cloud around the fate Of him who lies beneath. Most wretched one, 'Who' chose his epitaph? -- Himself alone Could thus have dared the grave to agitate, And claim, among the dead, this awful crown; Nor doubt that He marked also for his own Close to these cloistral steps a burial-place, That every foot might fall with heavier tread, Trampling upon his vileness. Stranger, pass Softly! -- To save the contrite, Jesus bled. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OCTAVES: 16 by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON LET IT BE YOU by SARA TEASDALE TOMMY [ATKINS] by RUDYARD KIPLING THE DONG WITH A LUMINOUS NOSE by EDWARD LEAR THE RUBAIYAT, 1879 EDITION: 100 by OMAR KHAYYAM |