A Selection from the Lyrical Poems of Robert Herrick

189. THE FUNERAL RITES OF THE ROSE

     The Rose was sick, and smiling died;
     And, being to be sanctified,
     About the bed, there sighing stood
     The sweet and flowery sisterhood.
     Some hung the head, while some did bring,
     To wash her, water from the spring;
     Some laid her forth, while others wept,
     But all a solemn fast there kept.
     The holy sisters some among,
     The sacred dirge and trental sung;
     But ah!  what sweets smelt everywhere,
     As heaven had spent all perfumes there!
     At last, when prayers for the dead,
     And rites, were all accomplished,
     They, weeping, spread a lawny loom,
     And closed her up as in a tomb.