Page:The songs that Quinte sang.djvu/30

26 Friends who even now are weeping
 * ’Round the one you love so well,

Know that sound of human sorrow
 * Cannot break Death’s mighty spell.

Cease to weep, thy bitter wailing
 * Falls upon a deafened ear,

Tears and sobs are unavailing,
 * He is dead, he cannot hear.

From a friend who knew and loved him
 * Since his earliest childhood’s hour,

And who shares your bitter heart ache
 * Comes this offering of flowers.

Let their beauty light the shadows
 * Death has brought around his bed,

Breathing forth their subtle incense,
 * Messengers unto the dead.

Lay them on his pulseless bosom,
 * Clasp them in his pale, cold hand,

As they breathe their silent message
 * He will know and understand;

For, their breath is far more subtle
 * Than the power of human speech,

And can penetrate his senses
 * Where our voices cannot reach.