 | The Poems of Richard Watson Gilder |  |
ON THE DEATH OF A GREAT MAN
PHILLIPS BROOKS
When from this mortal sceneA great soul passes to the vast unknown,
Let not in hopeless grief the spirit groan.
Death comes to all, the mighty and the mean.
If by that death the whole world suffer loss,
This be the proof (and lighter thus our cross),
That he for whom the world doth sorely grieve
Greatly hath blessed mankind in that he once did live.
Then, at the parting breath
Let men praise Life, nor idly blame dark Death.
| The Poems of Richard Watson Gilder | |