Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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

By James BenjaminKenyon

1312 Bring Them Not Back

YET, O my friend—pale conjurer, I call

Thee friend—bring, bring the dead not back again,

Since for the tears, the darkness and the pain

Of unrequited friendship—for the gall

That hatred mingles with fond love—for all

Life’s endless turmoil, bitterness and bane,

Thou hast given dreamless rest. Still let the rain,

And sunshine, and the dews from heaven fall

Upon the graves of those whose peaceful eyes

Thy breath hath sealed forever. Let the song

Of summer birds be theirs, and in the skies

Let the pale stars keep vigil all night long.

O death, call not the holy dead to rise,

Again to feel the cold world’s ruth and wrong.