Poems (Odom)/In Memoriam (To-day as the sunshine falls about us)
For works with similar titles, see In Memoriam.
IN MEMORIAM.
INSCRIBED TO THE MEMORY OF MRS. LAURA G. ELLIS, OF AUSTIN.
To-day as the sunshine falls about us, Flooding the earth with its waves of gold,We stand in a deep and rayless shadow, Cruelly dark and icily cold;Shrinking away from the tones of gladness, Turning in tears from the sound of mirth,Seeing in all this beautiful splendor Only one terrible mound of earth.
Only the face of a fair, sweet woman, Shaded with tresses of soft, dark hair,The dear lips closed and the bright eyes faded, Resting asleep in the silence there;Lying so still and cold before us, Never again to move nor speak;Never to lift up the curling lashes Sweeping the colorless, marble cheek.
Heedless of all the passionate kisses Pressed on the coldly beautiful brow,Feeling not one of the sad caresses Showered in agony on her brow.Vain are the whispers of consolation Tenderly meant and so kindly said;We only know we have loved and lost her, We can but feel she is lying dead.
Chide us not, tho' the tears are falling Swiftly and silently like the rain;We feel that bitterest pang of sorrow, That all our sorrowing is in vain.Vain was the loving care we gave her, Fruitless all of the prayers we said;Death has gathered the cloud above her, And flung his snow wreaths over her head.
Ah! yes, we know she had sadly suffered Many a torturing pain for years,Patiently borne, with never a murmur, Melting the pity of others to tears;Know she is safely at rest in heaven— There in its endless and radiant bloom,—But death is death, and its shadow lingers In her empty chair and her silent room.
Wringing the tears from the hearts that loved her, Whispering still of the love she gave,Thrilling the soul of the lonely husband Bowed in his agony over her grave.Only the hand of the God who made us Can sweep from his bosom its awful gloom,Only His infinite love can ever Lighten the darkness that lies in the tomb.
Galveston, August, 1880.