Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916.

To Le Vayer, on the Death of his Son

Henry Austin Dobson (1840–1921)

LET thy tears flow, Le Vayer, let them flow:—

None of scant cause thy sorrowing can accuse,

Since, losing that which thou for aye dost lose,

E’en the most wise might find a ground for woe.

Vainly we strive with precepts to forgo

The drops of pity that are Pity’s dues;

And Nature’s self, indignant, doth refuse

To count for fortitude that heartless show.

No grief, alas! can now bring back again

The son too dear, by Death untimely ta’en;

Yet, not the less, his loss is hard to bear,

Graced as he was by all the world reveres,

Large heart, keen wit, a lofty soul and rare,—

—Surely these claim immitigable tears!