The Poetical Works of Jonathan E. Hoag/A Voice Beneath the Evergreens

by Jonathan E. Hoag

A Voice Beneath the Evergreens

 

Beneath a canopy of green,
  Now sleep our loved and lost;
We bring sweet flowers in summertime,
  Ere comes the chilling frost.

Alas! all crushed they lie beneath
  A shroud of driven snow;
While gloom and silence brood o'er all,
  Where'er our footsteps go.

Now doth the sere and yellow leaf
  Hang trembling in the breeze;
The chilling blasts of winter days
  Now sway the leafless trees.

Here, 'neath the chiseled marble slab,
  And 'neath the granite gray,
Watch souls in silence for the dawn
  Of Resurrection Day.

Tell me, O Fate, why silver threads
  Remorselessly must break;
Why those we knew and loved so long
  Time from our side must take?

Why sever ties, which years of love
  Have moulded to endure,
In homes where prattling children feel
  Affection deep and pure?

Hark! for a low and peaceful tone
  Falls gently on our ears:
"Loved, yet not lost; we hover by,
  To dry those crystal tears!"

Thus from beneath the evergreens,
  That e'er their vigil keep,
Speak those who rest beneath the mould
  From out their age-long sleep.

They fondly scan each well-loved face,
  That seeks those realms afar;
And wait to greet them, as they pass
  Through pearly gates ajar!

1916