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DEATHLESS DEATH
49
Man's life on earth—how brief!
Yet we with Nature hold the high belief,
E'en when our hearts are breaking,
That death is but the vital way,
Darkness the shadow of the day,
And sleep the door to waking!
And shall we still with tears
Pay tribute sad to one whose soul endears
Even the dark, dark river it hath crossed?
Shall we in grief forget
The sweetness and the glory of our debt,
And that no good, once given, can be lost?
Distant your dwelling seems,
Poet and patriot!—but, ah, your dreams
Are living as the flame of sacrifice!
Therefore love's roses now
We lay amidst the laurel for thy brow,
Grateful that souls like yours our earth emparadise.
