| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1058. The Watchers |
| | | By Arlo Bates |
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| WE must be nobler for our dead, be sure, | |
| Than for the quick. We might their living eyes | |
| Deceive with gloss of seeming; but all lies | |
| Were vain to cheat a prescience spirit-pure. | |
| Our soul’s true worth and aim, however poor, | 5 |
| They see who watch us from some deathless skies | |
| With glance death-quickened. That no sad surprise | |
| Sting them in seeing, be ours to secure. | |
| Living, our loved ones make us what they dream; | |
| Dead, if they see, they know us as we are. | 10 |
| Henceforward we must be, not merely seem. | |
| Bitterer woe than death it were by far | |
| To fail their hopes who love us to redeem; | |
| Loss were thrice loss that thus their faith should mar. | |
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