Classic Poem

Bright hopes and ever brighter rose and shone,
Endeavours high, resplendent promises,
Courage and truth and honour, all were his;
" And now," we said, " great deeds will yet be done;
Here have we found a voice to cheer us on,
A hand to guide, a leader who can lead,
A mind that sees and knows: a man indeed" —
Death spoke one little word, and all is gone.

So sinks in flame the dying glorious day,
To dawn again? — but I, alone, forlorn,
I gaze as one whose minutes pass away,
Death's bony fingers clutching at his breast,
And sees the last rays darken in the west,
And knows that he will see no other morn.