Classic Poem

[ FOR MICHAEL MONAHAN ]

Why should I fear that ultimate thing —
The Great Release of clown and king?

Why should I dread to take my way
Through the same shadowed path as they?

But can it be a shadowy road
Whereon both Youth and Genius strode?

Can it be dark, since Shakespeare trod
Its unknown length, to meet our God;

Since Shelley, with his valiant youth,
Fared forth to learn the final Truth;

Since Milton in his blindness went
With wisdom and a high content;

And Angelo lit with white flame
The pathway when God called his name;

And Dante, seeking Beatrice,
Marched fearless down the deep abyss?

Where Plutarch went, and Socrates,
Browning and Keats, and such as these,

Homer, and Sappho with her song
That echoes still for the vast throng;

Lincoln and strong Napoleon,
And calm, courageous Washington;

Great Alexander, Roosevelt — names
That swept the world with deathless flames —

I need not fear that I shall fall
When the Lord God's great Voice shall call;

For I shall find the roadway bright
When I go forth some quiet night.