Destroyers and Other Verses/I Heard Them Say, "He Died Last Night"
I heard them say, "He died last night,"Paused on the threshold, drawn and white,Entered that dear familiar room;Two candles on the curtained gloomCast orange light.
Beside his bed, in my wonted chairI took my place; but he lay there,Stiff and straight from head to feet,Half revealed through a winding sheet,In the heavy air.
No petulant greeting, no sombre jest,Silent, his hands crossed over his breast,He lay, the carven monumentOf a warrior, whose last bolt is spent,Taking his rest.
Majestic in death's stern array,Wrapped in a passionless calm he lay—A stranger usurping my lover's place—I could not weep, but covered his faceAnd went my way.
February 17th, 1856.