MEREDITH



What am I reading He is dead
He the great interpreter
And seer-England's noblest head
What am I reading It is hushed
The deepest voice that life had found
To read a century profound
With all time's seethe and stir


Why, it is but a scanty score
Of days, since, at his side,
Clasping his hand with more than pride,
I felt that the immortal tide
Of his great mind would long break o'er
The cold command of Death.
Still in my ear is echoing
              io6