David's poem for Rob
2011 July 15
Created by Kirsten & Holly 12 years ago
Edna St. Vincent Millay - Dirge Without Music
We are not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out o mind;
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but we are not resigned.
Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains, - but the best is lost.
The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love, -
They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. We know. But we do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.
Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
We know. But we do not approve. And we are not resigned.