Ina Donna Coolbrith (1841-1928). Beside the Dead. Higginson and Bigelow, comps. 1891. American Sonnets

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Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891.

Beside the Dead

By Ina Donna Coolbrith (1841–1928)


WITH hands that folded are from every task,
It must be sweet, O thou, my dead, to lie
Sealed with the seal of the great mystery—
The lips that nothing answer, nothing ask;
The life-long struggle ended; ended quite	5
The weariness of patience, and of pain;
And the eyes closed to open not again
On desolate dawn or dreariness of night.
It must be sweet to slumber and forget;
To have the poor tired heart so still at last:	10
Done with all yearning, done with all regret,
Doubt, fear, hope, sorrow, all forever past:
Past all the hours, or slow of wing or fleet—
It must be sweet, it must be very sweet!