Poems (Kennedy)/Death

by Sara Beaumont Kennedy

DEATH

       Be comforted,
O frail and faint of heart who stand dismayed
And trembling on life's crumbling brink;
The road beyond the grave may not be long,
Heaven may lie closer than we think.

       For it may be
That end of life is but the opening wide
Of some shut door through which there flows
The muted music of the universe—
The breath of Eden, perfumed like a rose.

       What we call death
May be in truth the swift and sure escape
As from some loathsome prison-keep—
The touching of a light-spring in the dark—
The waking from a troubled, anxious sleep.

       Dread not to grope
And linger in some darkened sphere;
A single step, and leagues of space
And whirling worlds may be o'er sped,
And God and soul stand face to face.

       The hand which slips
Nerveless and chill from earthly clasp—
The pulseless hand your living friends must yield—
May be caught up (Oh, sweet and blessed hope!)
By some dear lost one waiting unrevealed.

       Therefore, be comforted,
O ye who've traveled to the end of life
And stand, foot-sore, upon its crumbling brink;
The onward journey is not long nor lone,
The Realm of Rest lies nearer than we think.
       Therefore, be comforted!