Margaret Love Peacock, for her tombstone, 1826

written by


« Reload image

Long night succeeds thy little day;
  Oh blighted blossom! can it be,
That this grey stone, and grassy clay,
  Have clos'd our anxious care of thee?

The half-form'd speech of artless thought
  That spoke a mind beyond thy years;
The song, the dance, by nature taught;
  The sunny smiles, the transient tears;

The symmetry of face and form,
  The eye with light and life replete;
The little heart so fondly warm,
  The voice so musically sweet;

These, lost to hope, in memory yet
  Around the hearts that lov'd thee cling,
Shadowing, with long and vain regret,
  The too fair promise of thy spring.

© Thomas Love Peacock