THE FRIENDS OF THE DEAD.

(For the Mirror.)

They've seen him laid, all cold and low;

They've flung the flat stone o'er his breast:

And Summer's sun, and Winter's snow

May never mar his dreamless rest!

They've left him to his long decay;

The banner waves above his head:

Funereal is their rich array,

But hark! how speak they of the dead.