Chapter LXXIV

This Poem will certainly not bear a literal interpretation. We cannot suppose that the writer ever looked on the face of his friend after death; for nearly four months had elapsed before the body reached England.

What he saw, therefore, was with "the mind's eye." And as Death often brings out a likeness,[49] which was never before recognized; so, contemplating the character of the departed, he sees

"Thy likeness to the wise below,
Thy kindred with the great of old."

I can perceive worth in thee equal to theirs!

The last stanza is mystical; the darkness of death hides much; what he can see he cannot or will not explain: enough, that thou hast made even this darkness of death beautiful by thy presence.