Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-11-08
When i am Dead,

In the dim crypts of the heart where de-
spair abideth, these words seem written. A
strange meaning-a solemn intimation unfods
itself at their utterance. -Four simple mono
sylables-how much ofgloom ye convey! How
We speak in funeral tones Of the extinguish-
ment of earthly hope-of the spirit that has
struggled in vain, and is painfully quiet now!
"When / am dead" is uttered calmly but
what calm!-such as the tornado leaves
when silence broods over desolation. The voice
pronouncing that despairing phrase, has not
all its mournfulness from itself The listening
ear hears something more; for from those
words the groan of high aspirations quenched,
and hopes pale and bleeding upon the sharp
rocks of adversely, come up, phantom-like,
amid the CHASTITY scenes Of the buried past.
"When / am dead!p We have heard it often,
like the pealng bell that tolls the body of the
departed to its final rest. The last word "dead,''
fingers strangely, and echoes sadly in the ear,
and through the portals of the sympathizing
soul. Dead-dead- dead--and the world grows
gray, and the heart stills, and the eye mostens,
to that mysterious sound.
The spirit trembles before the rushing food
Of conflicting emotions which follow the dark
echo, and essay to glance through its import.
But the echo fades amid encircling mist, and
the spirit turns back confused with blindness.
Even the echo of death cannot be penetrated.
The few feet of mould that composes the grave,
are wider than the globe, higher than the stars.
Not the minds eye, nor the anxious soul can
| glance through the barrier-the boundary be-
tween Time and Eternity.
| "When ] am dead!" More or less signifies
| resignation, or dependent wo, fulflment Of
nature, or a perversion Of its end, may these
words express, though sad they are at best.
When the aged man, whose steps have grown
feeble in the walks OF goodness, and whose
hands tremble with the fruits of his oft given
charity, utters these words, they fall from the
| lips as a prayer to heaven. In them his will
| harmonizes with his destiny; and the tear that
starts for a superior soul about to leave its
clay, glistens in the light Of happiness that
CLEANS out of the heart, at the prospective re
ward of the future.
The lips, too, that never pressed the rim o.
the fount Of Natures Poesy, may murmel
"When / am dead!" but death to such an one
is better, perhaps, than life His heart hold.
no music, Ginning in cadences to veal and wo
his inward existence is void and the rough
surface of his being checkered though not
frightened by the half stray thoughts, darkens
but little with the panoply of the tomb.
How different, when youth, glowing with
1 bSaui( VI oOui IT'LL Will lUe TREAS
ures Of mind, and warm with sympathy for al
of loneliness, signs, like the south wind, "Wher
| am dead!" A spirit seems to wall its an
them, and an eclipse of the noontide sun tc
fall upon the picture of a high nature checked
in its purpose-turned from dulcet waves upor
a coral reef, against the rocks Of destructiy,
shore.
| "When / am deadl" 1t is as mournful a!
the plant of ghost on the tempest and mid
night wind. But we must all say it some
4 time; for the grave lies at hand, yawnine
through bed of thorns, or cleaning like
white avenue Of hope leaning against the stars
"When ! am deadl" Strange and fearful
| import hath it to the utterer, but it is a weak
phrase only to others, the great world. Who
speaks it2 many think the single going forth
of a soul will move none-all will be as before
When he, and you, and we, gentle reader
are folded in our shrouds, friends dearest, and
those who loved us best, will dry their tears
ere they have all begun to flow. The heart
that beats with rapture against our own will
freeze above our memory in a brief time
briefer than woman's trust or mans period
of goodness.
! But it is well thus; It's the worlds custom
and natures law. We weep not for the dead
but while they die. We shall soon be will
them; and it may be good, we go early to thei
narrow homes.