When this corruptible must be Got rid of, do not make for me A solemn funeral, nor prepare A ritual, nor mark with care The burial-place of my old bones With rose-bushes and ugly stones . . . I fear a pious epitaph Would make the sad survivors laugh. But since I must be buried, go Lightly with me, that men may know How happy we shall all be when We find a way to meet again; And where you put me, in that place I shall be quiet, by God's grace. @3I shall be quiet? That thing, -- I?@1 These be the signs to know me by: When, on an autumn night, you feel Home-sick for God-knows-where, and steal Out into darkness, wistfully . . . There in the darkness I shall be. Or on a spring night, when the air Is full of lilacs everywhere, And suddenly, not knowing why, You stop and wonder . . . That is I. Or when, on summer nights, the flash Of imminent lightning, and the crash Of thunder waken you from your sleep, Come, -- join the vigils I shall keep! But, winter nights, I shall not haunt The lonely roads, nor in the gaunt Ungenial gardens shall I be, Crouching for shelter by a tree . . . God, no! But let your fancy stray To some wild snowy yesterday, And stir the fire. Put out the light, And say: "We have with us to-night . . ." Do not spend your money on stones To set above my mortal bones, But give a party. Let the air Ring with it. I shall be there! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LATTER DAY by THOMAS HASTINGS ART ABOVE NATURE: TO JULIA by ROBERT HERRICK AN ODE TO HIMSELF by BEN JONSON THE LONELY CHILD by JAMES OPPENHEIM A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2) by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI PHANTOMS ALL by HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD THE DOVE by ABUL HASAN OF SEVILLE |