aeternus

AND hast thou left us, Sister, Mother, Wife,
Without a message or a brief farewell;
With work unfinish’d, with thy days untold,
With all thy redden’d fruitage hanging ripe I
Art thou so weary of the dusty road,
That though th’ allotted span is out of sight,
Thou needs must lie beside the way to sleep ?
I would not grudge thee, dear, to rest, but 0,
My heart is pierced to know that rest for aye!
I cannot lose thee, Sister; thou hast been
My refuge, staff, and comfort through rough ways,
When clouds and darkness swept across the stars,
And all my reckoning in thick gloom was lost.
We cannot lose thee, Mother. Who will lead
Thy children upward on the heavenly way;
Lead gently, firmly, with that guiding hand
Which moulds with wisdom, softens still with love I
Who shall inform thy sons with knightly mind,
Observance to all women, tenderness
With weak and fragile things—the patient strength
Of manhood? Who thy daughters hourly tend
With influence, refinement, knowledge, grace;

Till every natural gift perfected shine
With added culture, crown’d with woman’s crown
Of strength and meekness, framed with loving heart,
And pure religious earnestness of will ?
O, how to lose thee, loyal, loving Wife !
Or who shall gauge the loss of wedded love
Which thou, above all women I have known,
Distill’d from thy great heart in flowing streams !
Thy husband was thy lord, thy law, thy life;
To serve him was thy honour, thy best joy,
His will unspoken, spoken, still fulfill’d,
And all thy aim to bear the larger load.
Well may he praise thee, wifely, noble heart;
Thy children bless thee, Mother!
Yellow leaves
Are falling through the rain as thus I bid
Thy calm white face farewell. Again I tread
Life’s narrow road, and miss thee to the end.

– From: The three kings, and other poems By Emily Bowles