John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892.
Religious PoemsThe Friends Burial
M
Where, wept by many tears,
To-day my mother’s friend lays down
The burden of her years.
Of death with her is seen,
And on her simple casket lies
No wreath of bloom and green.
The mocking weeds of woe;
Dear memories in each mourner’s heart
Like heaven’s white lilies blow.
Of new-born sweetness tells,
And the ungathered May-flowers wear
The tints of ocean shells.
Is fresh as heretofore;
And earth takes up its parable
Of life from death once more.
Methinks but discord were;
The prayerful silence of the soul
Is best befitting her.
Alike of earth and sky;
O wandering wind in Seabrook wood,
Breathe but a half-heard sigh!
And thou not distant sea,
Lapse lightly as if Jesus spake,
And thou wert Galilee!
As meadow streamlets flow,
Where fresher green reveals alone
The noiseless ways they go.
The plain-robed mourners pass,
With slow feet treading reverently
The graveyard’s springing grass.
Where, like the friends of Paul,
That you no more her face shall see
You sorrow most of all.
Unto the perfect day;
She cannot fail of peace who bore
Such peace with her away.
The look of sins forgiven!
O voice of prayer that seemed to bear
Our own needs up to heaven!
Or knelt in grateful praise!
What grace of Christian womanhood
Was in her household ways!
No duty left undone;
The heavenly and the human blent
Their kindred loves in one.
For feasting ear and eye,
And Pleasure, on her daily round,
She passed unpausing by,
Of all things sweet and fair,
And Beauty’s gracious providence
Refreshed her unaware.
With love’s unconscious ease;
Her kindly instincts understood
All gentle courtesies.
Made sweet her smile and tone,
And glorified her farm-wife dress
With beauty not its own.
Are humble human souls;
The Gospel of a life like hers
Is more than books or scrolls.
The saintly fact survives;
The blessed Master none can doubt
Revealed in holy lives.