O POMP of earthly elements
That bound a heavenly soul,
Vain boasting language of the dead
Upon a crumbling scroll!
Is not this simple epitaph
Grander and more complete
Than endless genealogies
Writ at the sleeper's feet?
Does it not speak of clayey shroud
That bound the spark divine;
And say, "The ashes unto earth,
The soul, O Lord, is thine"?
*Epitaph on a slab from the Catacombs, now in possession of the Redwood Library at Newport, R. I.
Read more in News
No Headline