To One Shortly to Die
Part of the cluster MESSENGER LEAVES.
To One shortly To Die.
1FROM all the rest I single out you, having a messagefor you: You are to die—Let others tell you what they
please, I cannot prevaricate, I am exact and merciless, but I love you—There is
no escape for you. 2Softly I lay my right hand upon you—you just
feel it, I do not argue—I bend my head close, and half-
envelop it, I sit quietly by—I remain faithful, I am more than nurse, more than parent or neighbor, I absolve you from all except yourself, spiritual,
bodily—that is eternal, (The corpse you will leave will be but excremen-
titious.) 3The sun bursts through in unlooked-for directions! Strong thoughts fill you, and confidence—you smile! You forget you are sick, as I forget you are sick, You do not see the medicines—you do not mind the
weeping friends—I am with you, I exclude others from you—there is nothing to be
commiserated, I do not commiserate—I congratulate you.
Part of the cluster MESSENGER LEAVES.