Whence flew the litter whereon he was laid?
Of what heroic stuff was warlock Henry made?
and questions of that sort
perplexed the bulging cosmos, O in short
was sandalwood in good supply when he
flared out of history
& the obituary in The New York Times
into the world of generosity
creating the air where are
& can be, only, heroes? Statues & rhymes
signal his fiery Passage, a mountainous sea,
the occlusion of a star:
anything afterward, of a high lament,
let too his giant faults appear, as sent
together with his virtues down
and let this day be his, throughout the town,
region & cosmos, lest he freeze our blood
with terrible returns.
(John Berryman)
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Based on Topics: World Poems, Charity Poems, Heroism Poems, Astronomy & Cosmology Poems, History PoemsBased on Keywords: throughout, fiery, henry, terrible, anything, whence, flew, giant, questions, returns, sort