Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE FEAST OF THE DEAD, by SAMUEL VALENTINE COLE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE FEAST OF THE DEAD, by                    
First Line: Far away in the land of morning
Last Line: Like us: it is just the same.
Subject(s): Death; Grief; Dead, The; Sorrow; Sadness


FAR away in the Land of Morning,
Where the Five Great Rivers flow,
And the peaks of the great world-mountains
Fling forward the sunrise glow,
I've read that the mighty Hydaspes
Runs, singing, o'er pebbles of gold:
But not of the marvelous river
My marvelous tale is told.

There are times when the dark-skinned people—
In many a home, it is said,
Where some one has died—lay a banquet;
The guests are their silent dead.
Comes father, or mother, or brother,
Or sister, or child, or wife;
They all come back with the twilight
To the oldtime happy life.

Forgotten the long separation,
Unheeded the cold night-rain;
The rice is made ready; together
They sit in one circle again:
Till suddenly falls a silence;
The ember has died on the stone;
Vague shadows glide through the doorway;
The living once more are alone.

Oh, 't is not a meaningless story,
Though wonderful; it is part
Of the wild and infinite yearning,
The unutterable cry in the heart,
For the light of a face that has vanished,
For a solace that never may be;
And it shows how that far-away people
Are kindred to you and to me.

The calm and solemn Himalayas
Rise heavenward, crowned with snow;
Over all the land forever
The Five Great Rivers go;
And forever in homes of the people,
Whatever their race or name,
They keep their love and their sorrow
Like us: it is just the same.





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