Poems (Angier)/Name Not the Dead

by Annie Lanman Angier

NAME NOT THE DEAD.

Oh! never say, name not the dead,
 Their memory we should keep
Among the heart's most cherished things
 O'er which we watch and weep.

Oh! never say, name not the dead,
 Nor bid us to forget;
We prize not less the summer's sun
 Because that sun has set.

Oh! never say, name not the dead,
 Their record let it be
Enshrined among our household gods,
 Things most we love to see.

Oh! never say, name not the dead,
 But give them still their place,
And round the dear domestic hearth
 Bring each remembered face.

Oh! never say, name not the dead,
 It soothes the sufferer's lot
To whisper in the dying ear
 "Thou shalt not be forgot."

Name not the dead! Oh, speak not so,
 The low voice seems to say,
Of one who like a dream of bliss
 Passed from our earth away.

Then never say, name not the dead,
 Their memory is given
To link the chain good spirits weave
 Between our souls and heaven.

No! never say, name not the dead,
 These gentle accents come
From lips long since in silence sealed,
 The silence of the tomb.