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5   Not a day passes — not a minute or second, without      an accouchement !
Not a day passes — not a minute or second, without a      corpse !
6  The dull nights go over, and the dull days also,
The soreness of lying so much in bed goes over,
The physician, after long putting off, gives the silent      and terrible look for an answer,
The children come hurried and weeping, and the      brothers and sisters are sent for,
Medicines stand unused on the shelf — (the camphor-     smell has long pervaded the rooms,)
The faithful hand of the living does not desert the      hand of the dying,
The twitching lips press lightly on the forehead of the      dying,
The breath ceases, and the pulse of the heart ceases,
The corpse stretches on the bed, and the living look      upon it,
It is palpable as the living are palpable.
7  The living look upon the corpse with their eye-     sight,
But without eye-sight lingers a different living, and      looks curiously on the corpse.