| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1224. Les Morts Vont Vite |
| | | By Henry Cuyler Bunner |
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| LES morts vont vite! Ay, for a little space | |
| We miss and mourn them fallen from their place; | |
| To take our portion in their rest are fain; | |
| But by-and-by, having wept, press on again, | |
| Perchance to win their laurels in the race. | 5 |
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| What man would find the old in the new love’s face? | |
| Seek on the fresher lips the old kisses’ trace? | |
| For withered roses newer blooms disdain? | |
| Les morts vont vite! | |
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| But when disease brings thee in piteous case, | 10 |
| Thou shalt thy dead recall, and thy ill grace | |
| To them for whom remembrance plead in vain. | |
| Then, shuddering, think, while thy bedfellow Pain | |
| Clasps thee with arms that cling like Death’s embrace: | |
| Les morts vont vite! | 15 |
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