| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1075. A Song before Grief |
| | | By Rose Hawthorne Lathrop |
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| SORROW, my friend, | |
| When shall you come again? | |
| The wind is slow, and the bent willows send | |
| Their silvery motions wearily down the plain. | |
| The bird is dead | 5 |
| That sang this morning through the summer rain! | |
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| Sorrow, my friend, | |
| I owe my soul to you. | |
| And if my life with any glory end | |
| Of tenderness for others, and the words are true, | 10 |
| Said, honoring, when I ’m dead,— | |
| Sorrow, to you, the mellow praise, the funeral wreath, are due. | |
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| And yet, my friend, | |
| When love and joy are strong, | |
| Your terrible visage from my sight I rend | 15 |
| With glances to blue heaven. Hovering along, | |
| By mine your shadow led, | |
| “Away!” I shriek, “nor dare to work my new-sprung mercies wrong!” | |
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| Still you are near: | |
| Who can your care withstand? | 20 |
| When deep eternity shall look most clear, | |
| Sending bright waves to kiss the trembling land, | |
| My joy shall disappear,— | |
| A flaming torch thrown to the golden sea by your pale hand. | |
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