| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
| |
| 945. Remembrance |
| | | By John Henry Boner |
| |
| |
| I THINK that we retain of our dead friends | |
| And absent ones no general portraiture; | |
| That perfect memory does not long endure, | |
| But fades and fades until our own life ends. | |
| Unconsciously, forgetfulness attends | 5 |
| That grief for which there is no other cure, | |
| But leaves of each lost one some record sure,— | |
| A look, an act, a tone,—something that lends | |
| Relief and consolation, not regret. | |
| Even that poor mother mourning her dead child, | 10 |
| Whose agonizing eyes with tears are wet, | |
| Whose bleeding heart cannot be reconciled | |
| Unto the grave’s embrace,—even she shall yet | |
| Remember only when her babe first smiled. | |
| |
|
|
|
