Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE DEATH OF A FRIEND, by LEVI BISHOP


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE DEATH OF A FRIEND, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Again the enemy hath bent his bow
Last Line: The grave? Just god! Thy no is written there!
Subject(s): Death; Friendship; Graves; Life; Love; Dead, The; Tombs; Tombstones


Again the enemy hath bent his bow;
Again we mourn a friend's untimely fall;
Again we feel the oft recurring woe;
Again we contemplate the end of all.

The place he filled shall know him never more;
Silent that voice, those lips nor smile or move;
We cherish, now, his many sufferings o'er,
The ever dear memorials of his love.

His faults and failings we forget; the tomb
Shall hide them all; but, shining as the sun,
His many solid virtues shall illume,
And cheer our path till life's short race is run.

Thou King of Terrors, let the loved ones stay!
Ah! why so partial to the shining mark?
Is life so long that we must haste away?
Why glory in destruction -- gloomy -- dark!

And why may not those genial hearts, that blend
In love and lasting friendship, that bestow
On life, the charm that nothing else can lend,
Escape that fatal, final, dreaded blow?

Friendship and love are Paradise begun;
A bliss that mortals with the angels share;
Thus linked with those above, may we not shun
The grave? Just God! Thy NO is written there!





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