Poems (Linn)/Memory
For works with similar titles, see Memory.
MEMORY.
EARTH'S memories pass like sands that run the hour:The name of Homer and of Shakespeare too,Shall sometime be forgotten like the dewThat rested yester-morn upon a flower.We need not hope our lives can gain a powerThat shall endure, not even for a day.The fondest friends when we have passed awayLaugh though they love. Forgetfulness! The dowerLife gives us when we wed his offspring Death.What would we better than that men forget?Ay, but the soul has memory, and must bearThe trace of earthly life: the body's breathIs yielded, but the soul, when time has set,Marks of defeat or victory shall wear.