Perhaps with greater force, were I
Accommodated in the Pit)—
Worn with the long day's dusty strife,
I ask a brief surcease of gloom;
I want a mirror held to life,
But not the life beyond the tomb.
The views of parties who have "crossed"
(Meaning to Jordan's further shore),
Those, as they say, who've "gone before,"
But not (unhappily) been "lost"—