Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BEAUTIFUL DEATH, by JOHN LANCASTER SPALDING



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BEAUTIFUL DEATH, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O painter, paint me autumn woods when now
Last Line: And all the flowers close wrapped and hidden lay.
Subject(s): Death; Immortality; Paintings And Painters; Dead, The


O PAINTER, paint me autumn woods when now
Yellow and green, russet and gold and red,
And purple and brown, and all the glory shed
Upon the world makes earth like heaven's brow;
When every tree and every separate bough
Glow like the sunset skies when day has fled,
And mellow light with sense of peace is wed,
While grateful hearts their love to God avow.

O paint me this, that I may ever see
The vision fair, where life in its decay
Speaks not of death, but immortality;
More richly glowing on its dying day
Than when spring sang of beauty yet to be,
And all the flowers close wrapped and hidden lay.





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