THE TOWER OF SILENCE
Above the sacred city on the hill
Where India's cloudless heavens seem to lower,
And all the earth and air are deathly still,
There stands dark Dahkma, or the Silent Tower.
Where India's cloudless heavens seem to lower,
And all the earth and air are deathly still,
There stands dark Dahkma, or the Silent Tower.
Deep-lined against the sky its massive form
Towers heavenward from the place of ceaseless prayer,
To front the summer sunshine and the storm,
And evermore to cast its shadow there.
Towers heavenward from the place of ceaseless prayer,
To front the summer sunshine and the storm,
And evermore to cast its shadow there.
No voice of gladness stirs its silent sphere,
And all the place a deathlike stillness keeps,
Save when the vulture screams and hovers near,
And o'er her love a dark Parseean weeps.
And all the place a deathlike stillness keeps,
Save when the vulture screams and hovers near,
And o'er her love a dark Parseean weeps.
No footfall wakes the chamber of the dead
Save when a corse is laid upon the floor,
For spirits move with swift and silent tread,
And Life and Death are parted at the door.
Save when a corse is laid upon the floor,
For spirits move with swift and silent tread,
And Life and Death are parted at the door.
Here side by side is prince and pauper clay,
And royal ash lies mixed with common dust,
Here pomp and glory vanish with decay
And selfish man forgets his greed and lust.
And royal ash lies mixed with common dust,
Here pomp and glory vanish with decay
And selfish man forgets his greed and lust.
Here hoary heads shall lie where babes have slept
And low degree may mingle in the throng,
And low degree may mingle in the throng,
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