C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Arthur Cleveland Coxe (1818–1896)
March
M
Making sound as they tread,
Ho ho! how they step,
Going down to the dead!
Every stride, every tramp,
Every footfall is nearer,
And dimmer each lamp,
As darkness grows dimmer:
But ho! how they march,
Making sounds as they tread;
Ho ho! how they step,
Going down to the dead!
Making sounds as they tread,
Ho ho! how they laugh,
Going down to the dead!
How they whirl—how they trip,
How they smile, how they dally,
How blithesome they skip,
Going down to the valley!
Ho ho! how they march,
Making sounds as they tread;
Ho ho! how they skip,
Going down to the dead!
Earth groans as they tread;
Each carries a skull,
Going down to the dead!
Every stride, every stamp,
Every footfall is bolder!
’Tis a skeleton’s tramp,
With a skull on his shoulder!
But ho! how he steps,
With a high-tossing head,
That clay-covered bone,
Going down to the dead!