I.
We passed the low stone wall, and stood
Beside the heedless dead,
That lay ‘unknowing and unknown’
Each in his narrow bed —
O’er which the mellow summer sun
Its ev’ning glories shed.
II.
And on the sleek and verdant sod,
A lengthened shadow threw,
Where’er an unpretending stone
Or hillock rose to view;
Trophies that proved death’s kingly claim,
Beyond all pleading, true.
III.
And there, the church-yard path beside,
A dial stood, to show
How, fleeter than the light-wing’d wings
Our minutes come and go,
And certain and unceasing change
Await on all below.
IV.
We gazed upon its tarnished face,
Just as the solemn chime
Rocked the grey tow’r whose sun-lit walls
Rose on our gaze sublime —
And, to the well-tuned heart, it seemed
To say — “Redeem the time.”
V.
And now we sought the welcome porch,
Upon whose front are shown —
With russet moss that lies in spots,
And lichens overgrown,
The bearings of my Lord de Grey,
Carved daintily in stone.
VI.
Three azure bars, with other three
Between, of virgin white,
Which cunningly enwrought were borne,
By that redoubted knight,
Sir Henry, at Caerlaveroc,
When Edward led the fight.
VII.
We sat within its quiet shade
And on the sunny scene,
More lovely by the contrast made,
And pleasingly serene,
Gazed with a joy we scarce had known,
Since life was young and green,
VIII.
Ere pleasure had been linked to pain —
And asked ourselves the while,
Why man should “toil so hard to gain
“A monumental pile”
That, whilst it craves the stranger’s tear,
Provokes the scorner’s smile.
IX.
But now the grey old oaken door
Swung open to the touch,
And up and down the breezy aisle
We passed, and pondered much;
Nor, as we spoke of mortal man,
Forgot that we were such.
X.
For as we came within its walls
So calm a freshness fell
Upon our minds, we deemed that here
That perfect peace must dwell
Which scatters, from its healing wings,
Delights which none can tell;
XI.
And feared that our unhallowed haste,
And sounding step, had scared
The gentle spirit from its rest —
Which, as it upward fared,
Had waked those stirrings in the air
Whose influence we shared.
XII.
And hence, with staid and thoughtful mien,
We moved along the nave,
And through a stately iron gate.
Where, o’er the Founder’s grave,
A costly monument appeared
Our poor regards to crave;
XIII.
On which, in effigy he lay,
A gay and gilded thing,
Though dimmed and sullied much by time,
Whose quick, but noiseless wing,
Fanning the haughty brow, had soothed
Its winter into spring.
XIV.
And close beside, in silent state,
Reposed his lady fair —
Their faces gazing on the roof,
Their hands upraised in pray’r.
And others of the house and line
Of bold de Grey were there,
XV.
By love and grief so eulogized,
They seemd too good for earth,
And yet, the language of the Fall
Exhibited no dearth
Of words, to sound the deathless praise
Of such unsullied worth!
XVI.
Now by a dark and winding stair,
We gained the turret’s height,
And feasted on the goodly view
Which opened to our sight,
In all the greenness of the spring,
And summer’s glory dight.
XVII.
And on the still churchyard beneath —
Whose soft and grassy sod,
So purely bright, it seemed that there
No human foot had trod —
Was ruffled with the cells of those
Whose souls had gone to God —
XVIII.
Whose souls had gone to God, though few
Their days on earth had been,—
For there how many baby-graves
Ranged side by side were seen!
So thickly set, a living child
Might scarcely pass between.
XIX.
And there, we breathed a wish to lie
Remote from folly’s noise–
It seemed so fit a resting-place
Between the care that cloys
In such a hollow world as this
And Heav’n’s enduring joys!
XX.
Oh Death of Death! through whom alone
All perfect gifts descend,
Give us that stedfast faith in Thee
Which brings a peaceful end —
And wheresoe’er our bodies rest,
Our helpless souls befriend.
(D A)
More Poetry from D A:
D A Poems based on Topics: Hope, Death & Dying, Smiling, Sense & Perception, Haste, Man, Time, God, Spring, Mind, Joy & Excitement- Elstow Church (D A Poems)
- Lines written near Otham Church, Kent (D A Poems)
- The Effect of Momentary Gleams (D A Poems)
- A Day in Spring at Maidstone (D A Poems)
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Based on Topics: Man Poems, God Poems, Life Poems, Mind Poems, Time Poems, Death & Dying Poems, War & Peace Poems, Faces Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Sense & Perception Poems, Hope PoemsBased on Keywords: bearings, cloys, seemd, effigy, provokes, exhibited, unpretending, pleasingly, well-tuned, redoubted, light-wing