Clouds

by Rupert Brooke — a poem card from Justes Mots

A Petrarchan sonnet meditating on clouds as metaphors for the dead, who Brooke imagines remain near the living in a state of wise, melancholic observation. The poem offers consolation through the idea of spiritual presence and eternal connection. Suitable for memorial services, grieving loved ones seeking comfort in the notion of continuing bonds, or framing as a meditation on mortality and transcendence.

Down the blue night the unending columns press
In noiseless tumult, break and wave and flow,
Now tread the far South, or lift rounds of snow
Up to the white moon's hidden loveliness.
Some pause in their grave wandering comradeless,
And turn with profound gesture vague and slow,
As who would pray good for the world, but know
Their benediction empty as they bless.…

Themes: sympathy · grief · reflection