Poems (Rice)/An Incident

by Maria Theresa Rice

AN INCIDENT.

AT St. Paul's, to-day, I stood by the door,
 To witness a cortege, a funeral train;
A flower I tried to snatch from the floor,
 From the casket it fell, a moment had lain;
Trembling I stood; another passed by,
Picked up the flower, with tears and a sigh.

A poet had died, and gone to his rest;
 Sweet were the emblems affection bestowed;
Do such really bloom in the land of the blest,
 Such flowers as these, with dew overspread?
Beautiful tokens, the poet to crown,
Lily-gemmed chaplets for well-earned renown.