Classic Poem

I.

Sweet be the laughing skies around,
 And sunny flowers be seen,
And let a carpet strew the ground,
 Of summer's richest green—
Thus, when the weary strife is o'er,
 Should still our parting be;
I would not have one heart deplore
 When it remembers me.

II.

Lay me in pleasant earth's embrace
 When all things smile around,
When eyes of gentleness may trace
 Sweet blossoms on the ground—
When merriest birds delight to sing,
 And chirping insects swell
A gracious note of early spring,
 O'er the spot wherein I dwell.

III.

Not that, when slumbering in its shade,
 My 'wilder'd soul may dream
That I shall hear one cricket's chirp,
 Or wandering mock-bird's scream;
But, at a time when all are glad,
 If the dead may solaced be,
I would be sure if aught was sad,
 It was not so through me.

IV.

I would not have a stone to mark
 The place of my repose,
Nor, chronicled in clumsy verse,
 The story of my woes—
My virtues, such as are my own,
 In some true heart will bloom—
My vices, when I'm dead and gone,
 Should moulder in my tomb.

V.

There let the summer's leaflets blow,
 And blossom 'neath the morn,
And primrose buds and daisies grow,
 The moment spring is born—
And-let the hours, a sweet serene,
 Around my dwelling throng—
While birds and bees with vocal hum,
 Make merry all with song.

VI.

And if in life there be one heart
 That song or speech of mine,
Counsell'd by erring sympathies,
 Hath tutor'd to repine—
Let not that gentle heart upbraid,
 With eye or aspect dim,
The father of the wayward verse
 When it remembers him.

VII.

Or, if the latest prayer be vain,
 And some fond heart shall weep,
And pour above his grave a strain
 Of memories, sad and deep;
Let the tear fall in loneliness,
 I would not crowds should see
The dear but silent intercourse
 Such heart shall hold with me.