A Lament

by Alfred Edward Housman — a poem card from Justes Mots

A lament for someone deceased, contrasting the eternal beauty of nature with the speaker's permanent loss. The poem uses the consolation of continuing natural beauty to underscore the irreplaceable absence of the beloved. Ideal for expressing grief while acknowledging that life persists for those left behind.

Over thy head, in joyful wanderings
Through heaven's wide spaces, free,
Birds fly with music in their wings;
And from the blue, rough sea
The fishes flash and leap;
There is a life of loveliest things
O'er thee, so fast asleep.
…

Themes: sympathy · grief · reflection · long-distance