| Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916. | | | I. Serenity
In Memoriam R. G. C. B., 1878 | | By William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) |
| | | THE WAYS of Death are soothing and serene, | |
| And all the words of Death are grave and sweet. | |
| From camp and church, the fireside and the street, | |
| She beckons forth—and strife and song have been. | |
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| A summer night descending cool and green | 5 |
| And dark on daytime’s dust and stress and heat, | |
| The ways of Death are soothing and serene, | |
| And all the words of Death are grave and sweet. | |
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| O glad and sorrowful, with triumphant mien | |
| And radiant faces look upon, and greet | 10 |
| This last of all your lovers, and to meet | |
| Her kiss, the Comforter’s, your spirit lean— | |
| The ways of Death are soothing and serene. | | | | |
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