Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By James BenjaminKenyon

1311 Death and Night

THE BEARDED grass waves in the summer breeze;

The sunlight sleeps along the distant hills;

Faint is the music of the murmuring rills,

And faint the drowsy piping of the bees.

The languid leaves scarce stir upon the trees,

And scarce is heard the clangor of the mills

In the far distance, and the high, sharp trills

Of the cicada die upon the leas.

O death, what art thou? Hast thou peace like this?

Or, underneath the daisies, out of sight,

Hast thou in keep some higher, calmer bliss?

Ah me! ’t is pleasant to behold the light,

And missing this, O death, would we not miss

That weariness which makes us love the night?