On the Passing of Queen Elizabeth II
The Reader is sorry to hear about the passing of Her Majesty the Queen. We send strength to all who are grieving or are reminded of moments of loss in their lives. During this time, our home at Calderstones will remain open as usual for reflection and coming together.
W.E. Henley has been an important poet for The Reader for many years because of his poem ‘Invictus’, so it felt fitting, as we looked for a poem to mark this sad occasion to find this poem, Sister Margaret, In Memoriam, perhaps written in memory of his daughter Margaret, who died at five years old.
We chose this poem to mark the Queen’s death because of the great feeling of calm peace, and for the sense of having done the work, ‘my task accomplished'.
Sister Margaret, In Memoriam
A Late Lark Twitters From The Quiet Skies:
And from the west,
Where the sun, his day's work ended,
Lingers as in content,
There falls on the old, gray city
An influence luminous and serene,
A shining peace.
The smoke ascends
In a rosy-and-golden haze. The spires
Shine and are changed. In the valley
Shadows rise. The lark sings on. The sun,
Closing his benediction,
Sinks, and the darkening air
Thrills with a sense of the triumphing night—
Night with her train of stars
And her great gift of sleep.
So be my passing!
My task accomplish'd and the long day done,
My wages taken, and in my heart
Some late lark singing,
Let me be gather'd to the quiet west,
The sundown splendid and serene,
Death.
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