Village Funeral
I knew him very little;
He was already old.
And all he loved in this world
Four walls did enfold.
I took a near-by cottage;
He kept the key for me:
And week by week bestowed
with fitting dignity.
'Twas hanging on the dresser,
And always in its place:
And still I see him reach it,
I see that gentle face.
And when the door stood open,
And he'd his task to do,
The warmth within that cottage,
Was in his old heart too.
I didn't think much about him,
He vanished from my mind;
But there's a bond between us
To all human kind.
'Twas said that he had left us;
He'd gone away to die.
It was a sad decision;
I heard it with a sigh.
But on that cold gray morning,
In dulling mist and rain,
Only a few days later
They brought him home again.
And in that quite churchyard,
Amongst the ancient stones,
The soil that he belonged to
Received his honoured bones.
The cottages were empty;
No one had bidden "Come",
But all were in that graveyard
To bid him Welcome Home.
