Requiescat

Tread lightly, she is near

    Under the snow,

Speak gently, she can hear

    The daisies grow.

All her bright golden hair

    Tarnished with rust,

She that was young and fair

    Fallen to dust.

Lily-like, white as snow,

    She hardly knew

She was a woman, so

    Sweetly she grew.

Coffin-board, heavy stone,

    Lie on her breast,

I vex my heart alone

    She is at rest.

Peace, Peace, she cannot hear

    Lyre or sonnet,

All my life’s buried here,

    Heap earth upon it.