Zinzendorff and Other Poems/Tomb of a Young Friend at Mount Auburn
TOMB OF A YOUNG FRIEND AT MOUNT AUBURN.
I do remember thee.
There was a strain
Of thrilling music, a soft breath of flowers
Telling of summer to a festive throng,
That fill'd the lighted halls. And the sweet smile
That spoke their welcome, the high-warbled lay
Swelling with rapture through a parent's heart,
Were thine.
Time wav'd his noiseless wand awhile,
And in thy cherish'd home once more I stood,
Amid those twin'd and cluster'd sympathies
Where the rich blossoms of thy heart sprang forth,
Like the Moss Rose. Where was the voice of song
Pouring out glad and glorious melody?—
But when I ask'd for thee, they took me where
A hallow'd mountain wrapt its verdant head
In changeful drapery of woods and flowers
And silvery streams, and where thou erst didst love,
Musing to walk, and lend a serious ear
To the wild melody of birds that hung
Their unharm'd dwellings 'mid its woven bowers.
Yet here and there, involv'd in curtaining shades
Uprose those sculptur'd monuments, that bear
The ponderous warnings of Eternity,
So, thou hast past the unreturning gate,
Where dust with dust doth mingle, and gone down
In all the beauty of thy blooming years
To this most sacred city of the dead.
The granite obelisk and the pale flower
Reveal thy couch. Fit emblems of the frail,
And the immortal.
But that bitter grief
Which holds stern vigil o'er the mouldering clay,
Keeping long night-watch with its sullen lamp
Had fled thy tomb, and Faith did lift its eye
Full of sweet tears: for when warm tear-drops gush
From the pure memories of a love that wrought
For other's happiness and rose to take
Its own full share of happiness above,
Are they not sweet?