Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume III. Sorrow and Consolation. 1904. | | | | V. Death and Bereavement | | After Summer | | Philip Bourke Marston (1850–1887) |
| | | WE ’LL not weep for summer over,— | |
| No, not we: | |
| Strew above his head the clover,— | |
| Let him be! | |
| |
| Other eyes may weep his dying, | 5 |
| Shed their tears | |
| There upon him, where he ’s lying | |
| With his peers. | |
| |
| Unto some of them he proffered | |
| Gifts most sweet; | 10 |
| For our hearts a grave he offered,— | |
| Was this meet? | |
| |
| All our fond hopes, praying, perished | |
| In his wrath,— | |
| All the lovely dreams we cherished | 15 |
| Strewed his path. | |
| |
| Shall we in our tombs, I wonder, | |
| Far apart, | |
| Sundered wide as seas can sunder | |
| Heart from heart, | 20 |
| |
| Dream at all of all the sorrows | |
| That were ours,— | |
| Bitter nights, more bitter morrows; | |
| Poison-flowers | |
| |
| Summer gathered, as in madness, | 25 |
| Saying, “See, | |
| These are yours, in place of gladness,— | |
| Gifts from me”? | |
| |
| Nay, the rest that will be ours | |
| Is supreme, | 30 |
| And below the poppy flowers | |
| Steals no dream. | | | | |
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