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IN DUE OBSERVANCE OF AN ANCIENT RITE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
Last Line: And joy returns, to brighten fortitude
Subject(s): Death – Children; Faith


In due observance of an ancient rite,
The rude Biscayans, when their children lie
Dead in the sinless time of infancy,
Attire the peaceful corse in vestments white;
And, in like sign of cloudless triumph bright,
They bind the unoffending creature's brows
With happy garlands of the pure white rose:
Then do a festal company unite
In choral song; and, while the uplifted cross
Of Jesus goes before, the child is borne
Uncovered to his grave: 'tis closed,--her loss
The Mother then mourns, as she needs must mourn;
But soon, through the Christian faith, is grief subdued:
And joy returns, to brighten fortitude.





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