If I should never see the moon again
Rising red gold across the harvest field,
Or feel the stinging of soft April rain
As the brown earth her hidden treasures yield. If I should never hear the thrushes wake
Long before the sunrise in the glittering dawn,
Or watch the huge Atlantic rollers break
Against the rugged cliffs in baffling scorn. If I have said goodbye to stream and wood
To the wide ocean and green clad hill,
I know that he who made this world good
Has somewhere made a heaven better still. This I bear witness with my last breath
Knowing the love of God
I fear not death.
Death The Leveller
A 17th Century remembrance poem by James Shirley, ideal as an epitaph, eulogy or funeral reading for your loved one.