The Close of Life
By Evelyn Fjelsted
Shall not the close of life be sweet –
Like coming home some tranquil day
When one has wished so long to come,
But home seemed ever far away?
Like knowing suddenly there was
No cause at all for grief or fear
When one has been so much afraid
And nothing in the world seemed clear;
Like realizing that, at last,
A burden one has carried long
Is laid aside and one is free
To live again with hope and song;
Like seeing life – yes, glorious life
In all its grand simplicity,
When life has seemed complex and strange,
When one has seen small victory?
(1945)
Gentle counterpoint to Dylan Thomas’s “Do not go gentle …”
But a bit ironic in 1945 when so many were dying young, without having carried any burden long.
Thoughtful. (I kept expecting her to say “but…the close of life isn’t actually always sweet” or something along those lines. But she never turned the corner.)
So sweet to a weary seventy five year old.