Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. V. Browning to Rupert Brooke

Richard Middleton (1882–1911)

Pagan Epitaph

SERVANT of the eternal Must

I lie here, here let me lie,

In the ashes and the dust,

Dreaming, dreaming pleasantly.

When I lived I sought no wings,

Schemed no heaven, planned no hell,

But, content with little things,

Made an earth, and it was well.

Song and laughter, food and wine,

Roses, roses red and white,

And a star or two to shine

On my dewy world at night.

Lord, what more could I desire?

With my little heart of clay

I have lit no eternal fire

To burn my dreams on Judgment Day!

Well I loved, but they who knew

What my laughing heart could be,

What my singing lips could do,

Lie a-dreaming here with me.

I can feel their finger-tips

Stroke the darkness from my face,

And the music of their lips

Fills my pleasant resting-place

In the ashes and the dust,

Where I wonder as I lie,

Servant of the eternal Must,

Dreaming, dreaming pleasantly.