Page:Poems of Nature and Life.djvu/409

 LIFE

Those glassy eyes seem gazing yet, Though thou art there no more ;

Still smile the lips which once could " set The table in a roar."

Is he not gone, but only mute,

As when the whispering trees Hushed to a calm, or like a flute

With none to press the keys ?

Ah, friend ! Thine is some deeper death - The trees shall sigh once more ;

Soon shall the skilled musician's breath The flute's sweet sounds restore.

But thou, to silent earth consigned,

Shalt slumber with the past ; Thy friends shall seek, but shall not find ;

This look must be our last.

And thus, ere long, my loved ones all

Shall leave me lonely here, And I must cover with the pall

All whom my soul holds dear —

With but this thought to soothe the heart

In musing on the past : That the stern law which bids us pan

Shall blend our dust at last.

Spirit of life, why yield life's breath ?

Why seek thyself to slay ? Sure, thou art sweeter far than death,

Bloom lovelier than decay !

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