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A funeral poem by Bishop Brent, using the metaphor of a ship sailing over the horizon to describe passing from this life to the next.

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I am standing on the sea shore.

A Ship sails and spreads her white sails to the morning breeze

And starts for the ocean.

 

She is an object of beauty

And I stand watching her till at last

She fades on the horizon,

And someone at my side says,

"She is gone."

Gone where?

Gone from my sight,

That is all.

 

She is just as large in the masts, hull and spars

As she was when I saw her,

And just as able to bear her load of living freight

To its destination.

 

The diminished size and total loss of sight

Is in me, not in her.

 

And just at the moment

When someone at my side says, "She is gone,"

There are others who are watching her coming,

And other voices take up a glad shout,

"There she comes,"

And that is dying.

 

Download Poem (PDF)

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