The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-07-23
Memorable Death Utterances.

say anything pertinent at the menent
Of death Is disappointing % good many
people who believed that at the last IN
slant he would recant. Other great nen
have said beautiful things before passing
away Shortly before TennysOn died ne
called for . copy Of Shakespeare. and
passed away with the volume IN his
hands. his fingers upon the dirge In Gym
bellne:
Fear no more the heat Of the sun,
Nor the winters icy RACES:
Thou thy earthly task hath done.
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages;
Joyous boys and girls all must.
Like ehinney-sWeepers. come 20 dust"
In some persons this action would have
been presumptuously dramatic. but II the
author OF the Crossing Of the Bar" Il
was merely another Illustration OF the
ruling passion being strong in death. Not
long before had he given the world his
own undying death song:
Twilight and evening bell.
And after that the dark;
And may there be no sadness Of FAREWELL
E When ] embark"
The dying speak better than the iiv-
ing; for their souls. presaging "a some
where else" often attain q n0bier speech
prophetic. hopeful. inquiring- dlvining
the other life upon which they are enter
ing. Tender and solemn are the last
words OF Shelley's great poem. The Tn
umph Of Death" written as he drifted
in his boat over the blue waters OF the
bay In which he was to die. Their unfia-
ished condition adds to the pathos OF the
lines. for they close abruptly with the
inquiry:
Then. what is life7' I eried'-
He received his answer almost immedi-
ately In the halls Of death; yet the whole
thing remains a commentary on the poor
fellows troubled life and premature
death. Byron wrote his last poem on his
last birthday. at fever-haunted Nilsson
ionghI, where he had gone to take part
In the struggle Of Greece for liberty. He
was haunted by the presentiment that
he would never return. and characteristic
melancholy breathed IN his last lines:
The days are in the yellow leaf;
The flowers and fruits OF love are gone:
The worm, the canker and the grief
Are mine alone"
Arthur Hugh Clough. a remarkable
man, whose whole life was a struggle
with doubt. in his NOBLE death poem at
last spoke hopefully:
Say not the struggle naught availeth.
The labor and the wounds are vain;
The enemy fainteth not nor faileth,
And as things were they remain.
When daylight comes, comes In the
light:
| In front the sun climbs slow-how slowly!
But westward, look! the land is bright"
Compare this verse with verse from
Longfellow's last poem, The Bells OF
San Bias
''Oh. bells Of San Bias! In vain
Ye call back the past again;
The past is leaf to your prayer;
Out ~ fha shadows Of night
The world rolls into sight;
1t Is daybreak everywhere"
The last poem OF Whittier was written
to Oliver Wendell Holmes as the author
was standing at the very gate OF 'eter-
nifty:
The hour draws near. howe'er delayed
or late,
when at the Eternal Gate
We leave the words and works we call our
| own,
And lift void hands alone
For love to fill. Our nakedness Of soul
Brings to that gate no toll;
| Gfftless we come TO Him whom all things
| gives,
| And nve-because He lives"
| Browning hreathed the same lofty
| spirit in his last words, spoken TO a
| friend at his death-bed: Never say OF
me that / am dead"
zone who never turned his back, but
| marched breast forward;
| Never doubted clouds would break;
Never dreamed. though right was worst
ed. wrong would triumph;
Held. we fell to rise again; are baffled. 70
fight better;
| Sleep to wake.
No, at MONDAY. In the hustle Of mems
work time,
! Greet the unseen with chear!
| Bid him forward. breast and back, as ell
1 thor shotild ne.
Strive and thrive; cry Speed. fight on,
forever.
/ There as here
Never say OF me that am dead"
| we're. In effect. the last words OF Charles
| Kingsley. and he expressed them In the
! epitaph he selected as his final message
| 10 the world: "Amavimus. amamus. anna
| bimus''-we have loved. we do love. We
shall love A grand expression. not only
| OF past condition and present condition,
| but Of undying destiny
| We often read, or hear read. one grand
| IL exalted death-bed expression; but its
/ familiarity has a tendency 20 detract
river full to the brim with tender thought
| and feeling-the hymn OF soul who
/ knew his labor was ended. his storms
| gone By. his victory sure and fnal. In
the Itany Of the dying Il stands unex-
| celled:
'sFor am now ready 20 he offered and
the time OF my departure II at hand
! I have fought a good night: ] have nm
| tshed nv course; ] have kept the faith.
Henceforth there Is laid up for me n
| crown Of righteousness. which the LORD.
the righteous Judge. shall give me
In all death-bed literature there - moth
| ing like this II g. a hymn OF victory
| IN the most delicate proSe-a song OF
Joy beside which the beautiful utteranc".