THRENODY
Hush! tread softly in the gloom
Of the closely-curtained room:
Though our hearts with grief are torn
Silently alone we'll mourn:
Shallow grief alone is shrill,
Deep our grief shall be and still:
We should wrong her did we make
Loud lamentings for her sake;
Grief enough in life she had,
Now no more will she be sad,
Never more will suffer pain—
Death to her is naught but gain.
Life brought strife and bitterness,
Death brings kind forgetfulness:
Life brought never-ending woes,
Death brings endless calm repose;
Life was one long martyrdom,
Death all ills hath overcome;
Life was but an evil dream,
Death has given her rest supreme;
She has reached the eternal shore
By mortals christened Nevermore,
That Haven ever calm and blest
Which no dark dreams of ill molest.