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1878–1952

VI

Alfred Browning Stanley Tennyson

A shrill chill wind blew out of the West As a young child wails for a Mother's breast, It broke the swell and whitened each crest And moaned “I come with a strange behest;

The dead are happier. They are at rest Alone, alone, alone, Each under a graven stone, Where the poppies are red

In the homes of the dead And their scarlet petals spill And the seabirds scream As they wheel and gleam

And the seawinds whistle shrill. The dead are happy, for they are free They have said farewell to misery, Alone

Each under a stone; But the hearts which mourn for a faithless friend Can never, never, never mend, And so they break for friendship's sake

Alone, alone, alone.”

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VI · Alfred Browning Stanley Tennyson · Poetry Cove