Frederick Philip Grove
THE DIRGE
(IM 15, 1-33)

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e-Edition by Gaby Divay
© August 2007

University of Manitoba Libraries	FPG & FrL Collections	University of Manitoba Archives

VII. "How can they..."[4] by Frederick Philip Grove How can they dare to live when she is dead And not bow down with sorrow to the earth? How can they laugh and still the boards betread That underfoot sound hollow with their mirth? Let silence reign and everlasting dark! Let not the sun rise, let the moon not wax! Let no more tides the distant hours mark, The earth stand still and all in death relax! Let this sphere crack fitly to mourn its child! Let ancient chaos reinvade this world, Abyss bestride abyss, confusedly piled! And through it let, from upper cycles hurled, Some poor, lost spirit search as I search now For some sense in this show. Let him dream still, With burning eye and with erratic brow, That he is here some mission to fulfil. Then will I cry and laugh and raise my voice. "Hark! Hear the violin strumming to its bow! "They dance on other planets and rejoice! "Yet wait! Their end will come, though all too slow!" In Memoriam 15/7