Poem about Mountain View Cemetery from 1893

[Photo of cherub at Mountain View Cemetery by Michael Colbruno]

IN MOUNTAIN VIEW CEMETERY
(OAKLAND)

By Josie T. Hatman (1893)

Silence spreads her soft, dove-colored wings
Above the opal waters of the bay;
From yonder covert, copse, a lone bird sings
His farewell song to the fast-dying day.
“Good-bye, good-bye, - Peace fold thee to her
breast,”
Floats benedictive from the sky to earth;
While flowers close their eyes and sink to rest
Upon the gentle heart that gave them birth.

Blending in rare, harmonious reliefs,
Sweep undulating curves of gray and green;
While the ship Twilight spreads her tinted reefs,
And sails the shores of day and night between,
Towards the long line of purple hills that skirt
The east horizon tinged with faintest rose.
Like sentries tall, the eucalyptus girt
And guard full well this city of repose.

“Asleep in God.” Silence hath set her seal
In reverence upon these peaceful graves,
Till, clothed in majesty, the Lord reveal
Life’s mystery. Oh, many a sad heart craves
To be at rest beneath the quiet trees
That cast their grateful shadows on the turf;
Far from the tumult of life’s rolling seas,
No more to battle in the angry surf.

[Note: Blogger will not allow me to properly format this poem, so indentations are missing]