Lines Written at the Grave of Alexander Dumas
Cemeteries are places for departed souls
And bones interred,
Or hearts with shattered loves.
A woman with lips made warm for laughter
Would find grey stones and roving spirits
Too chill for living, moving pulses . . .
And thou, great spirit, wouldst shiver in thy granite shroud
Should idle mirth or empty talk
Disturb thy tranquil sleeping.
A cemetery is a place for shattered loves
And broken hearts . . . .
Bowed before the crystal chalice of thy soul,
I find the multi-colored fragrances of thy mind
Has lost itself in Death’s transparency.
Oh, stir the lucid waters of thy sleep
And coin for me a tale
Of happy loves and gems and joyous limbs
And hearts where love is sweet!
A cemetery is a place for broken hearts
And silent thought . . .
And silence never moves,
Nor speaks nor sings.
From Caroling Dusk (Harper & Brothers, 1927), edited by Countee Cullen. This poem is in the public domain.
Gwendolyn Bennett
Gwendolyn Bennett was born on July 8, 1902, in Giddings, Texas, to Joshua Robin and Mayme (née Abernathy). Bennett spent her early childhood in Washington, D.C. Her parents divorced when she was around four. Joshua kidnapped Bennett in 1910. Father and daughter lived on the run for a lengthy period, moving between Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and New York. Bennett had no further contact with her mother until she was an adult. She attended Brooklyn Girl’s High School and graduated in 1921.