Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Poetry I Like: Mark Twain, Good Night, Dear Heart

Warm summer sun, shine kindly here.
Warm summer wind, blow softly here.
Green sod above, lie light, lie light.
Good night dear heart; good night, good night.

Whe Mark Twain's daughter dyed unexpectedly at age 24, Mark Twain was crushed.  He had read this poem and put it on her tombstone.  He couldn't remember who had written it.  It is based on a poem by Robert Richarson called "Annette" about a young woman who passed away and had many suitors.  I like Twain's short version better but you can read the entire poem here:
http://www.twainquotes.com/headstone.html
Mark Twains version was put to music by Dan Forrest.

No comments:

Post a Comment