Ye come and go incessant; we remain Safe in the hallowed quiets of the past; Be reverent, ye who flit and are forgot, Of faith so nobly realized as this.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker contrasts the enduring peace of the dead with the fleeting nature of the living.
- In plain terms
- The dead remain safely in the past while the living quickly fade away.
- What can you take from it?
- Respect the faithful dead who are remembered.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How should we honor those who have passed?
- Is the past truly safer?
Another view
It romanticizes death and the past without acknowledging its pain.
More from James Russell Lowell
Though old the thought and oft expressed, 'Tis his at last who says it best.
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