| James and Mary Ford, eds. Every Day in the Year. 1902. | | | | August 15 | | Lillian Adelaide Neilson | | By Clement Scott (1841–1904) |
| | | | A noted English actress of great talent, who died on August 15, 1880, at an early age. |
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WHAT shall my gift be to the dead one lying | |
| Wrapped in the mantle of her mother earth? | |
| No tear, no voice, no prayer, or any sighing, | |
| Gives back her face made beautiful by birth. | |
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| Honor was due to one whose soul was tender, | 5 |
| Whose nature quickened at the touch of art; | |
| Now that the struggle’s over, God will send her | |
| Mercy and peace to soothe her troubled heart. | |
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| Tears will be shed; for who dare raise the finger | |
| Of scorn when all is buried in the grave? | 10 |
| Some pity near her memory will linger: | |
| Upon life’s stormy sea she tossed—a wave! | |
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| Life’s weary hill she bravely fell in breasting, | |
| Her work was done; “Oh take me home,” she sighs; | |
| Whisper it low, she sleeps not, “she is resting,”— | 15 |
| So fell the curtain, and she closed her eyes. | |
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| The flowers she loved will deck the cross that shows us | |
| Where all remains of what was once so fair. | |
| Yes! she is dead, but still perhaps she knows us | |
| Who say “Implora pace!” for our prayer. | 20 |
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| They gave love’s playthings, who were wont to win her, | |
| As Juliet coaxed to happiness her nurse; | |
| But I, who knew the goodness that was in her, | |
| Place humbly on her grave—this leaf of verse. | | | |
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