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THE WELCOME TO DEATH.
The silence of the unanswering soul
Is on me and around;
My heart hath echoes but for thee,
Thou still, small, warning sound!
Voice after voice hath died away,
Once in my dwelling heard;
Sweet household-name by name hath changed
To grief's forbidden word!
From dreams of night on each I call,
Each of the far removed;
And waken to my own wild cry—
"Where are ye, my beloved?"
Ye left me! and earth's flowers were dim
With records of the past:
And stars poured down another light
Than o'er my youth they cast:
Birds will not sing as once they sung,
When ye were at my side,
