Poems By William Walsham How ... New and Enlarged Edition |
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Funeral of a Child in Spring.
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21
Funeral of a Child in Spring.
Every rounded hawthorn spray
Shines with sunny tufts of May;—
And the child was bright as they.
Shines with sunny tufts of May;—
And the child was bright as they.
Now there is a silent gloom,
While about the open tomb
All the turf is burst in bloom.
While about the open tomb
All the turf is burst in bloom.
With a solemn wondering air,
Six little children slowly bear
Their strange and mournful burden there.
Six little children slowly bear
Their strange and mournful burden there.
And they think, as they go on,
How like some young flow'r she shone,
Scarce believing she is gone.
How like some young flow'r she shone,
Scarce believing she is gone.
'Tis so strange to pass away
While the grass they tread is gay
With the blue Veronica.
While the grass they tread is gay
With the blue Veronica.
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And they wonder if the dead
Passeth with a silent tread
Thro' the blueness overhead;
Passeth with a silent tread
Thro' the blueness overhead;
If the spirit, sailing near,
Doth their sobs of mourning hear,
Pondereth the shining tear;
Doth their sobs of mourning hear,
Pondereth the shining tear;
If upon her sunny wings
She may visit brighter things
Than the light of earthly Springs.
She may visit brighter things
Than the light of earthly Springs.
Oh! it is a solemn scene
Thus to part from what hath been
When the earth is virgin-green.
Thus to part from what hath been
When the earth is virgin-green.
Other children play around,
And the air is full of sound,
And the earth with light is crowned.
And the air is full of sound,
And the earth with light is crowned.
Yet the little mourners stand
Round the grave, a weeping band,
And share their sorrows, hand in hand.
Round the grave, a weeping band,
And share their sorrows, hand in hand.
Children! hearken to the Spring,
With her voice in everything,
Balm unto your sorrowing.
With her voice in everything,
Balm unto your sorrowing.
Children! watch the verdure shine,
And with quiet gladness twine
Wreaths of flowers for a sign.
And with quiet gladness twine
Wreaths of flowers for a sign.
23
Plant upon the rounded clay
Plants that shall be blooming gay
Every year upon this day.
Plants that shall be blooming gay
Every year upon this day.
For the seed, that now ye sow
In the chilly earth below,
Shall a glorious flower blow:—
In the chilly earth below,
Shall a glorious flower blow:—
“Sown in weakness, raised in power,”
In the eternal Springtide's bower
It shall bloom, a glorious flower!
In the eternal Springtide's bower
It shall bloom, a glorious flower!
(1847.)
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