 | Jones Very : The Complete Poems |  |
Death
Men live and die in secret; none can seeWhen going out or lighting up the flame,
Save the all-seeing eye;—frail mortals, we
Call death and life what are but so in name;
Death is that shunning Him who bids thee die,
Which thou but disobedience learnst to call;
Words cannot hide thee from the searching eye,
That sees thy corse beneath their sable pall;
And life the lifting up that thou dost feel,
When thy feet follow where he bids thee go;
A life beyond disease, or severing steel,
That nought but him who gives it, fears below;
This be thy life, and death shall flee away,
For thou hast learned for ever to obey.
Poem No. 327; early 1840?
| Jones Very : The Complete Poems | |