Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PULVIS ET UMBRA, by EDWARD NOYES POMEROY First Line: When thou art lying under ground Last Line: The shadow of oblivion. Subject(s): Death; Graves; Love - Loss Of; Stones; Dead, The; Tombs; Tombstones; Granite; Rocks | ||||||||
When thou art lying under ground, Beyond the reach of sight and sound, The world will still go round and round; But, troubled not by fool or wise, Unheeding all beneath the skies, Shadow and dust will thee suffice. The youth and maid, who stroll above, Will dream their dream, and deem it love; But thee, beneath, it will not move. With all the art that song employs The birds will celebrate their joys, But not for thee their amorous noise. Without the least concern of thine Will June bestow her days divine, October spill celestial wine, And Nature change, with changéd dress, From loveliness to loveliness That nevermore will thee impress. However dear thy fame to thee, With generations soon to be It will not be a memory. Though thou wast beautiful or brave, Nor love or gratitude will save Thy desolate, defenseless grave. The epitaph, unread, unknown, Will presently be overgrown With lichens on the leaning stone; The leaning stone will break in twain And Nature, every hindrance vain, Her old dominion will retain; For here will summer's verdure grow, And Winter, as the ages flow, Fold and unfold his sheets of snow; While, o'er thy dust as days go on, Will deepen, until days are done, The shadow of oblivion. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...STONE'S SECRET by MARGARET AVISON CONTRA MORTEM: THE STONE by HAYDEN CARRUTH NAMING FOR LOVE by HAYDEN CARRUTH OF THE STONES OF THE PLACE by ROBERT FROST THE EYE IN THE ROCK by JOHN HAINES THE HEAD ON THE TABLE by JOHN HAINES THE OLD CHURCH ON THE HILL by EDWARD NOYES POMEROY |
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