Not human speech nor human wail can tell
The grief of heart for one beloved so well:
In strength of life he left his home at morn,
And back, at noon, a pallid corpse was borne.
Humid and cold, they brought him from the deep,
To breaking hearts, to eyes that could not weep.
Oh, cease to mourn! in life we are in death,
And life is but a shadow and a breath.
Oh, cease to mourn! learn meekly to obey;
The Lord who gave, might surely take away!
Notes
Bamford writes "The lines, after being written at the instance of a relative of the deceased, were submitted to the revision of a cobbler of rhymes, at Royton, and, as might be expected, a sad botch of them appears on a stone in the chapel yard of that place."
This poem was taken from Bamford's book Homely Rhymes, Poems and Reminiscences.
For the meaning of the many Lancashire dialect words in Bamford's poetry it is suggested you look here. http://www.gerald-massey.org.uk/bamford/b_glossary.htm
The site contains a good deal of information concerning the Poet.
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