Classic Poem

When plaintive birds lament, and gently bend
To Summer's balmy breath the verdant bowers,
And softly murmuring chrystal waters wend
Their winding way through banks of fragrant flowers,
Oft as I sit and frame my pensive lay,
She who has set on Earth, in Heaven to rise,
I see and hear — for still though far away
She lives, and marks and answers to my sighs.
" Why prematurely thus consume thy years? "
She asks with tender voice. — " And wherefore claim
From eyes long sad, more streams of burning tears?
Weep not for me! for dying I became
Immortal — closing earthly eyes and ears
To wake in bliss — full, endless, and the same![ " ]