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The Fall of the Leaf

And Other Poems. By Charles Bucke ... Fourth Edition
Bucke, Charles (1781-1846)
  
[epigraph]
  
[dedication]

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THE FALL OF THE LEAF:
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LINES
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ODE
  
ODE TO JULIA;
  
ODE TO CLAUDE SPENCER, ESQ.;
  
ODE. ROCHEFORD'S RESOLUTION.
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ODE
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ODE TO HER WHO WILL UNDERSTAND IT.
  
ODE
  
ODE.
  
HYMN TO THE VIRGIN:
  
THE EOLIAN HARP.
  
CANZONET.
  
LINES
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THE BRIDESMAID AND THE WATER-SPIRIT.
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VII. SONG.
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[subsection]
 I. 
I. INSCRIPTION
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II. INSCRIPTION ON AN OAK IN THE NEW FOREST.
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III. INSCRIPTION.
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IV. INSCRIPTION FOR A MONUMENT OVER ARTHUR LLEWELLYN.
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VI. INSCRIPTION.
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VII. INSCRIPTION FOR A CEMETERY.
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HYMN TO THE MOON.
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75

VII. INSCRIPTION FOR A CEMETERY.

WRITTEN IN THE CHURCHYARD OF BRITTON-FERRY, GLAMORGANSHIRE.

When death has stolen our dearest friends away,
Some tears to shed is graceful:—but to mourn
Loudly and deeply, that their pains are o'er,
Is but to prove we loved ourselves the most.
To bear misfortune with an equal mind;
To mount the aspiring pinnacle of fame,
With a warm heart, and temperate resolve;
To curb the rage, that prompts to wild revenge;
To pay the malice of an envious throng
With pity and forgiveness; and to weep,
With tears of joy, that our most “useful” friend
Has paid the debt eternity demands;
Alike bespeak nobility of mind,
And the proud hope, that heaven's decrees are just.
Stranger!—of peasant or of royal line!
Treasure these thoughts; and autumn's yellow leaf
Shall never fill thine aged eyes with tears!
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