And when my arms shall cradle you the last

With love’s bright fire fading from your eyes,

When quaking grief shall tell that you have passed,

Stern bells will peal their thunder to the skies.

Gaunt birds will stand stiff silent, mute in prayer

While frozen sunshine shadows still the ground;

Life’s incense fades in whispers on the air

While on each face, dull sallow sadness found.

So ends a life, as many gone before…

Yet none so precious as that which I hold,

No words of praise could ever here say more,

Or frame the essence of your story told.

While lives are often tallied great or small,

By love’s sweet measure, yours does best them all.