Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/104

78 Its final home in earth. What Traveller—who—

(How far soe'er a Stranger) does not own

The bond of brotherhood, when he sees them go,

A mute Procession, on the houseless road,

Or passing by some single tenement

Or clustered dwellings, where again they raise

The monitory voice? But most of all

It touches, it confirms, and elevates,

Then, when the Body, soon to be consigned

Ashes to ashes, dust bequeathed to dust,

Is raised from the church-aisle, and forward borne

Upon the shoulders of the next in love,

The nearest in affection or in blood;

Yea by the very Mourners who had knelt

Beside the Coffin, resting on its lid

In silent grief their unuplifted heads,

And heard meanwhile the Psalmist's mournful plaint,

And that most awful scripture which declares

We shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed!

—Have I not seen?—Ye likewise may have seen

Son, Husband, Brothers—Brothers side by side,

And Son and Father also side by side,

Rise from that posture:—and in concert move,