Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Barry Cornwall 1787–1874

Peace! What Do Tears Avail?

CornwllB

PEACE! what do tears avail?

She lies all dumb and pale,

And from her eye

The spirit of lovely life is fading,

And she must die!

Why looks the lover wroth? the friend upbraiding?

Reply, reply!

Hath she not dwelt too long

’Midst pain, and grief, and wrong?

Then, why not die?

Why suffer again her doom of sorrow,

And hopeless lie?

Why nurse the trembling dream until to-morrow?

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Death! Take her to thine arms,

In all her stainless charms,

And with her fly

To heavenly haunts, where, clad in brightness,

The Angels lie.

Wilt bear her there, O Death! in all her whiteness?

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