This is a rewrite of my Eulogy of Love that I believe I had published on poemhunter but not here on poetfreak. I hope it is improved version.Also thank you to my dear friend Paul for offering some much needed criticism. This poem has been interpreted two ways. On the actual Death of a loved one and on merely the Death of a relationship. Interpretation is always in the heart of the reader.
Eulogy of Love
The eulogy has been delivered solemnly through
sad eyes and sighs, tears escaping the confines
of hope and sliding over time and face
to embrace the eloquent pain.
The ache permeates the soul like foul death,
wrapped in black shroud of dying dreams.
So loud the noise of past fair days
playing over and over the refrain,
a sad and somber tune,
though brightly the moon displays the grave.
We gave all we had to give, but still love goes
and with spades regrets are heaped
into a mound of grief, while mourning begins for me,
does it for you? For all the joys we never shared,
for all the things left yet to do?
Ghostly images reel unfettered, while memories
are packed away to confines of cardboard caskets.
No epitaph could express strong feelings
but as surely as if etched in stone,
these words endure within my heart;
'We Once Loved'
Copyright2011spb
Susan P. Bagley
what a beautiful poem! I especially like the use of assonance inside the following line after the sound is still ringing from the previous line ending. truly adds to the emotions and the harmony with eternity. Reminds me of the beauty of Gerard Manley Hopkins work. It seemed though it could mean death, most fitting to the end of a relationship.
My friends you are all very kind. Thank You.
Whilst this is a moving expression of grief, it is also a skilled work of poetry. The alliteration, internal rhyme, even the eye-rhyme "soul/foul", may be deliberate, instinctive, or coincidental (though I doubt the latter), but they add greatly to the emotional quality of the piece by emphasising the control you have exercised over the writing. The act of speaking to the deceased ("mourning begins for me, does it for you?") shows your closeness, and the last lines, comparing the heart to a gravestone, are masterly.
A wonderfully penned Eulogy of love, very much enjoyed.
Loved reading this poem Susan ! -Raj
Some excellently descriptive wording here.
a beautiful poem first......a fine eulogy for the loved one,in the epitaph on the heart.great poem her !