Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes, the — Volume 10: Before the Curfew by Oliver Wendell Holmes
page 9 of 74 (12%)
page 9 of 74 (12%)
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Ask you what name this prisoned spirit bears
While with ourselves this fleeting breath it shares? Till angels greet him with a sweeter one In heaven, on earth we call him EMERSON. I start; I wake; the vision is withdrawn; Its figures fading like the stars at dawn; Crossed from the roll of life their cherished names, And memory's pictures fading in their frames; Yet life is lovelier for these transient gleams Of buried friendships; blest is he who dreams! OUR DEAD SINGER H. W. L. PRIDE of the sister realm so long our own, We claim with her that spotless fame of thine, White as her snow and fragrant as her pine! Ours was thy birthplace, but in every zone Some wreath of song thy liberal hand has thrown Breathes perfume from its blossoms, that entwine Where'er the dewdrops fall, the sunbeams shine, On life's long path with tangled cares o'ergrown. Can Art thy truthful counterfeit command,-- The silver-haloed features, tranquil, mild,-- |
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