University of Virginia Library

THE IMMORTALITY OF THE BELOVED.

None die but the forgotten!—The twin-soul
Makes league with an eternal memory,
Whose voice is sleepless, and forever cries,
Through the still watches of the lonely night,
A word that is a spell!—This, when he hears,
Sends the survivor forth!—One only path
He takes,—and at one only altar bends,—
The grave of the beloved one:—a sad joy
Is in his desolate heart; and, stooping down,
With eyes, that, ever-dropping with their tears,
Still blind him to the solemn toil he takes,—
He writes upon the grave—he writes in flowers,
The well-known name; and thus, in death's despite,
Hallows the loved one into life!—What death
So powerful, as can trench upon the fame,
Which grows in true affections?—which springs up,
In greenest gardens of the memory,
Love planting ever his consoling flowers,
And bending gratitude, and weeping faith,
Nursing and tending with devoted watch,—
So that no noxious breath, nor wind, nor blight,
Shall over-pass the consecrated place,
Or rend its blooming tokens;—which, thus kept,
Are trophies,—proudest trophies—that declare
Love's empire over all;—a green amidst
Most cheerless sands;—a marble on the waste;
A bird of light, that, rising from the tomb,
Still leaves it vacant,—yet forever soars
From the same spot; pure emblem of the truth,
That, born of heaven, and with a wing that still
Seeks evermore its home, as if for food,
In the high place of its pure origin,—
Must still return to earth in sympathy,
And share the suffering, and denied to die,
Save, still undying, the sweet memories
Of him it could not save!—