Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-09-05

hand on his icy brow, damp with the death
dew, and you wish and wish in your soul
that you too were dead, that you might rest
from the worlds troubles with him and your
mother in the dark shades of the grave yard
whete the cypress and the yew tree wave
ther sleepy branches.
And a mother-like old lady, your good old
Aunt, acts like a mother to you now, and
takes you by the hand, leading you weeping
away. And she sits down with you, away
in another room, and takes your hand be-
tween hers, and tries to comfort you by tel
ling you to hope your husband is in Heaven.
And you wonder and wonder how your Aunt
can talk SO of hope and comfort, when the
reed on which you leaned ~confdingly is
broken.
And you hear the busy shuttle of many
feet on the floor. And you wonder why it
is; your Aunt seems to read your thoughts,
and she answers you by whispering sol-
EMMY:
"THEY ARE PREPARING TO PUT HIM AWAY ~
She cannot bear to say BURY J" for she
knows that is a cold world that CRATES hor-
ribly on the ear and so she only tells you
that he is to be !" put away"
Your Aunt asks you if you want to see
him again, and you lean on her good old arm
and she leads you to the chamber of death.
A smooth polished coffin sits by the bed
where your husband died; the coffin shines
like glass and the fragrance of its varnish
fills the room.
And your husband is laid straight and
stiff in that narrow coffin, with a clean white
shroud about him. The linen rustles like
dry leaves in Autumn, as your Aunt lays
back the folds that conceal your husbands
cold face, and his lifeless eyes.
And you gaze through your helpless tears
on the broken reed on which you had hoped
f to lean when the fierce storms of life com
upon you. You are led away by your good
, Aunt, while you wish in the great deep of
your soul that you too were dead and free
from this great sorrow.
And they lead you to a new-made grave
o among the old grassy graves in the church
i. yard where you wandered when a little girl,
reading the dim inscriptions on the tomb
f. stones, wondering and wondering, as only
little children can wonder, what " He .jacet''
and all that meant.
And you see strong men ease the smooth
coffin and its tenant, down into it's narrow
home in the earth, and you follow it down,
down with your eyes, and your tears go with
it!
: And you kneel there, among the graves
8 near your poor old mothers grave, and you
weep as you never wept before, and you wish,
Obi you do wish in your soul that you too
might lie down with the beloved dead and
. forget all. If in this moment of terror and
heart struggles, what if there should come
upon you this sad reflection: By MY IN.
i FLUENcE THE CUP OF DEATH AND DRUNKEN.
NESS WAS PRESSED TO HIS LIPS !; BUT FOR MY
FOLLY HE MIGHT HAvE LIVED AN HONOR AMI
:, ORNAMENT TO HIS HOME
SISTER, if this be thy bitter cup in the ter
rible moment that awaits thee, how the deer
damp grave under the cypress boughs viii
FeproSe tnee HOW the hollow, dismal
wailing sound Of the clods on the coffin boards
Is as it greets its brother dust, and calls tn,
"a earth worm to it's feast, will echo the cry O
n Remorse !! REMoRsE ] in thy aching heart
lie Remorse REMoRsE! !! can you paraphraz,
Is that terrible word ?
I'd Oh let not Remorse sting you when you
IS hope has ~perished-when your
lie STRONG REED IS BKoKEN